Author Archives: Dominic

Fanny

Fanny features music and lyrics by Harold Rome along with book by S. N. Behrman and Joshua Logan. The plot follows a tale of passion, secrets and intrigue set around the port of Marseille in France. The show was one of Rome’s most successful musicals of the period, and has been revived a number of times by different regional companies and fringe groups. The show starred Ezio Pinza who had previously captivated audiences in South Pacific, and the original production ran for a solid 2 years.

Music:

Harold Rome

Lyrics:

Harold Rome

Book / libretto:

Adapted for the stage by Joshua Logan and S.N. Behrman

Based on:

Marcel Pagnol’s French film trilogy, “Marius, Panisse and Fanny”

Producer:

David Merrick & Joshua Logan

Director:

Joshua Logan

Choreography:

Helen Tamiris

Productions

Original Broadway Production

Majestic Theatre, Belasco Theatre - Opened 4 Nov 1954, closed 16 Dec 1956, 888 performances

Cast: Ezio Pinza, Walter Slezak, Florence Henderson, William Tabbert, Nejla Ates, Gerald Price & Alan Carney

Original London Production

Theatre Royal Drury Lane - Opened 1 Jan 1956, closed 1 Jan 1970

London Revival

Sadler's Wells - Opened 1 Jan 2005, closed 1 Jan 1970

New York Concert Revival

Encore! City Center - Opened 4 Feb 2010, closed 7 Feb 2010

What was your favourite production? Add your thoughts in the comments box

Synopsis

In Marseille, teenaged lovers Fanny and Marius are encouraged to marry by Marius’ tavern-keeper father Cesar, who hopes his son will follow in his footsteps. Marius loves Fanny, but wants the chance to leave the town for an adventure and longs for a life at sea. Cesar is furious and disowns Marius. Fanny, however, understands and allows him to go, though their passionate farewell almost makes him change his mind. After he leaves, she discovers she is pregnant with his child.

An older, wealthy man in the town, Panisse, has previously tried to marry Fanny, but she formerly spurned his advances. Desperate to avoid a scandal, she now approaches him, and he agrees to marry her. He is moreover thrilled at the prospect of a son and decides to raise him as his own, hoping he will one day take over his sail-making business. The child is indeed a boy and named Cesario.

Panisse and Cesar are good friends and look after Cesario after he is born. On the boy’s first birthday, Marius returns suddenly and attempts to claim Fanny and Cesario. Fanny is unable to refuse him outright, but Cesar manages to run him out of town.

Twelve years later, Cesario is now an adolescent and longs to be a sailor like his father before him. He runs away to find Marius at sea, and Parnisse, heartbroken at losing Cesario, retreats to his deathbed. Marius brings Cesario back home, and Parnisse’s dying wish is for Marius and Fanny to be together at last.

Songs

Act I

Overture
Octopus Song
Restless Heart
Never Too Late For Love
Cold Cream Jar Song
Why Be Afraid To Dance?
Shika, Shika
Welcome Home
I Like You
I Have To Tell You
Fanny
Panisse And Son
Wedding Dance

Act II

Finale Act 1
Birthday Song
To My Wife
Thought Of You, The
Love Is A Very Light Thing
Other Hands, Other Hearts
Montage
Be Kind To Your Parents

Licensing

UK: Music Scope UK

USA: Tams-Witmark

The Woman in White

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The Woman in White is an Andrew Lloyd Webber musical that opened in the West End in 2004. Based on the Victorian novel of the same name by Wilkie Collins, the show featured lyrics by David Zippel with a book by Charlotte Jones. The original production featured a set made up mainly of projections and was one of the first shows to use 3D technology which was criticised by many reviewers. The musical features a small chamber cast, which was initially led by Maria Friedman and Michael Crawford, who suffered under the constrains of his costume and had to be replaced by Michael Ball, four months into the run. The show opened on Broadway where it flopped, and is yet to be seen again.

Music:

Andrew Lloyd Webber

Lyrics:

David Zippel

Book / libretto:

Charlotte Jones

Based on:

the Wilkie Collins novel

Producer:

Sonia Friedman Productions Ltd. and The Really Useful Theatre Company Ltd.

Director:

Trevor Nunn

Choreography:

Wayne McGregor

Productions

Original London Production

Palace Theatre - Opened 15 Sep 2004, closed 25 Feb 2006, 500 performances

Cast: Maria Friedman, Michael Crawford, Martin Crewes, Kill Paice, Oliver Darley, Edward Petherbridge. (Michael Ball replaced Michael Crawford during the run)

Original Broadway Production

Marquis Theatre - Opened 17 Nov 2005, closed 19 Feb 2006, 109 performances

Cast: Maria Friedman, Michael Ball, Angela Christian, Adam Brazier, Jill Paice, Ron Bohmer, Walter Charles.

What was your favourite production? Add your thoughts in the comments box

Synopsis

Twitter Synopsis:

Unrequited love for a drawing teacher drives the uglier sister to protect her estate and family fortunes from Italian rogue and slimy Sir.

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Walter Hartright, a drawing teacher, is on his way to Limmeridge House in the depths of the English countryside. At around midnight, he comes across a mysterious woman dressed all in white on the roadside who has an urgent secret that she needs to tell. She tells him she is escaping from someone, and in a years time there will be a death on the very railway line on which they are standing.

As Walter arrives at Limmeridge he meets his new students, Marian Halcombe and her prettier half sister Laura Fairlie. Laura is heir to the estate of Limmeridge, and Walter is instantly drawn to her. Whilst these feelings are shared by Laura, Marian also develops feelings for him and a love triangle develops. Walter tells the girls about the woman he witnessed on his way to the house. During a peasant festival, a small girl tells Hartright that she saw the ghost of a woman dressed all in white. She points to the graveyard, and whilst exploring he meets Anne Catherick who assures him that she is not a ghost. She warns him of Sir Percival Glyde, saying that is what he secret is all about.

Sir Percival Glyde arrives at Limmeridge, as Laura’s intended husband. They plan to move their wedding to the Christmas. Glyde’s best man is an Italian man named Count Fosco who is a large man, full of his own importance. He takes a liking to Marian. Walter questions Glyde about Anne Catherick and he tells him that she is a mad woman whom he tried to help, and she sees him as an enemy. Laura does not want to marry Glyde but Marian encourages her in order to honour her dying father and also leave Walter free for her. Walter is upset and leaves for London as Laura and Glyde are married.

The pair move into Glyde’s estate and Anne Catherick decides to travel to assist Laura in overcoming her husband. Laura begins to distrust Marian as it was her advice that led her to marrying an abusive and mean husband. She has now realised that he only wants her for her money in order to pay off his debts. Marian is heartbroken at the news and becomes determined to free Laura from her position.

Glyde presents Laura with a document that he wants her to sign but refuses to tell her what it contains. She is suspicious and asks about what it concerns. Glyde is furious with her although Fosco tries to calm the situation. The girls leave the estate for a walk and come across Anne Catherick. They are struck by how alike her and Laura are, and witness her being dragged off to the asylum. Marian and Laura become convinced that Glyde and Fosco are the villains that Anne speaks of.

Marian overhears Glyde and Fosco’s plans to take Limmeridge House from Laura along with their plans for Anne. That evening Marian suffers nightmares and is woken by screaming and shouting. Fosco tells her that Laura has fallen out of the window whilst sleep walking. Marian is distraught and at the funeral swears vengeance for her sister. She runs off to London to find Walter.

In London Walter is down on his luck and Marian finds him living in a run down house. He is initially angry with Marian for sending him away, but then decides he will help figure out the mystery of Anne. Fosco is pleased at how the plan is progressing but reprimands Glyde for spending more money on gambling. Walter suggests that Marian use her feminine charm against Fosco in order to find out where they are hiding Anne. She tries to seduce him, and whilst he leaves the room she finds the document with the location of Anne’s asylum. Fosco feels rejected saying that if she really were interested he would have proposed marriage.

Marian and Walter travel to the asylum to find Anne, but on arriving they find Laura in her place. Laura explains to them that Glyde locked Laura away, killing Anne and burying her in Laura’s grave. They help her escape and they all travel to Limmeridge to ask Laura’s father what he knows about Anne. Mr Fairlie has been convinced by Glyde to sign over the estate to him and he leaves on the next train. He then admits to Marian, Laura and Walter that Anne was in fact Laura’s half sister, hence why they look identical. They run to the train to try and stop Glyde.

At the station Laura dresses in white and pretends she is Anne to haunt Glyde. She discovers the secret that Glyde raped Anne and drowned their child in the lake. He tries to kill her to preserve his secret but is instead run over by a train. The prediction from a year ago has come true, and the dead lie on the tracks. Walter marries Laura and they take over Limmeridge House, leaving Marian heartbroken as the stonemason changes the name on Laura’s gravestone to Anne Catherick.

Songs

Act I

Prologue
I Hope You Like It Here
Prespective
Trying Not To Notice
I Believe My Heart
Lammastide
You See I Am No Ghost
Gift For Living Well
Holly & The Ivy
All For Laura
Document
Act One Finale

Act II

If I could Only Dream This World Away
Nightmare
Fosco Tells of Laura’s Death / The Funeral / London
Evermore Without You
Lost Souls
If Not For Me For Her
You Can Get Away With Anything
Seduction
Asylum
Back To Limmeridge
Finale

Awards

2005 Olivier Awards: Best Sound Design

Licensing

UK: R & H Theatricals

USA: R & H Theatricals

Cabaret

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Cabaret is a musical based on the Christopher Isherwood novella ‘Goodbye to Berlin’, and the Druten play ‘I am a Camera’. The show is set in a nightclub in 1930s Berlin just as the Nazi party begin to rise to power. Featuring music by John Kander and lyrics by Fred Ebb, the show has been revived countless times in both London and New York, but is perhaps most well known for the 1972 film adaptation which starred Liza Minelli. The show has gone through various re-writes, with new songs added for each new production. Numbers were written specifically for the film, and in many new productions these are now added to the musical. Many famous faces have played the lead roles over the years, from Dame Judi Dench to the late Natasha Richardson, Alan Cumming, Neil Patrick Harris and singer Will Young.

Music:

John Kander

Lyrics:

Fred Ebb

Book / libretto:

Joe Masteroff

Based on:

I Am A Camera by John van Druten and Berlin Stories by Christopher Isherwood

Producer:

Harold Prince

Director:

Harold Prince

Choreography:

Ron Field

Productions

Original Broadway Production

Broadhurst, Imperial, Broadway Theatres - Opened 20 Nov 1966, closed 1 Jan 1970, 1165 performances

Cast: Jill Haworth, Joel Grey, Bert Convy, Jack Gilford, Lotte Lenya, Peg Murray & Edward Winter

Original London Production

Palace Theatre - Opened 28 Feb 1968, closed 1 Jan 1970

Cast: Judi Dench, Barry Dennen , Lila Kedrova, Peter Salli

1986 London Revival

Strand Theatre - Opened 17 Jul 1986, closed 4 Jun 1987

Cast: Kelly Hunter as Sally, Peter Land as Cliff and Wayne Sleep as the Emcee

1987 Broadway Revival

Imperial Theatre, Minskoff Theatre - Opened 2 Oct 1987, closed 1 Jan 1970, 261 performances

Cast: Joel Grey (Emcee), Alyson Reed (Sally), Gregg Edelman (Cliff), Regina Resnik (Fräulein Schneider), Werner Klemperer (Herr Schultz) and David Staller

1993 Donmar Revival

Donmar Warehouse - Opened 10 Dec 1993, closed 1 Jan 1970

Cast: Jane Horrocks (Sally), Adam Godley (Cliff), Alan Cumming (Emcee) and Sara Kestelman

1998 Broadway Revival

Henry Miller Theatre, Studio 54 - Opened 19 Mar 1998, closed 1 Jan 1970

Cast: Alan Cumming, Natasha Richardson, John Benjamin Hickey, Ron Rifkin, Michelle Pawk, Mary Louise Wilson

2006 London Revival

Lyric Theatre - Opened 1 Sep 2006, closed 1 Jan 1970

Cast: Sheila Hancock, James Dreyfus, Anna Maxwell Martin

2012 London Revival

Savoy Theatre - Opened 3 Oct 2012, closed 19 Jan 2013

Cast: Will Young, Michelle Ryan

What was your favourite production? Add your thoughts in the comments box

Synopsis

Twitter Synopsis:

An American in Berlin stumbles across a British singer in a seedy club with a sexually ambiguous Emcee whilst the Nazi’s rise to power.

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In 1930s Berlin, a young American writer steps off the train and finds his way to the seedy Kit Kat Klub which is presided over by a sexually ambiguous Emcee who introduces the venue and the Cabaret girls. He is directed to Frau Schneider’s boarding house and she haggles with him over how much he has to pay to stay there. Back at the club, Cliff is introduced to a British singer Sally Bowles ‘the toast of Mayfair’ who performs various racy numbers. Cliff offers to take her home, but she is worried about what her boyfriend might say. Cliff earns a living teaching English in the boarding house and Sally arrives looking for a place to live. She decides to stay with Cliff as the Emcee muses on their living conditions. Herr Schultz is an older Jewish man who owns the fruit shop below the boarding house. He is attracted to Fray Schneider and brings her the exotic gift of a pineapple.

The Nazi presence on Germany begins to grow, and even in the club a song is turned into a Nazi march. As months go by, Cliff begins to wonder about his situation with Sally, and as she reveals she is pregnant and wants an abortion, he is shocked. He agrees to take a risky job to bring in some more money for the couple. Meanwhile, Herr Schultz proposes to Fraulein Schneider, after she argues with a lodger who continually sleeps with a wide variety of different men. At the couple’s engagement party, anti-Semite feeling is expressed, and a Nazi anthem is sung as many of the characters helplessly look on.

As Frau Schneider grows more worried about marrying a Jewish man, Schultz’s shop is attacked but he refuses to acknowledge the trouble he is in. The Emcee performs a song at the club about loving a Gorilla, challenging their perception about mixed relationships. Schneider tells Sally and Cliff that she is going to call off the wedding, and refuses to listen to Cliff’s reasoning. Sally refuses to move to America with Cliff and their child and rushes back to club. Cliff is beaten up by Nazi’s and dragged out of the club, whilst Sally sings of that ‘life is a cabaret’.

As Cliff prepares to leave, Sally tells him about the abortion and he hits her. He promises to use her in his book that he begins to write as his train pulls away from Berlin. The Emcee bids farewell to the audience, and the company reveal concentration camp uniforms complete with a yellow star of David and a pink triangle.

Songs

Act One

Wilkommen
Welcome To Berlin
So what
The Telephone Song
Don’t tell Mama
Don’t Tell Mama (Stage Band)
Telephone Dance
Telephone Crossover
Perfectly Marvelous
Two Ladies
Two Ladies Playoff
It Couldn’t Please Me More
Tomorrow Belongs To Me
Change Of Scene (Don’t Tell Mama)
Why Should I Wake Up?
Sitting Pretty
Sitting Pretty Playoff
Incidental (It Couldn’t Please Me More)
Married
End Of Scene 12 (Married)
Opening Scene 13
Fruit Shop Dance
The Scene Continues – Incidental (Sitting Pretty)
Meeskite
Tomorrow Belongs To Me (reprise)

Act Two

Entr’acte
Kick Line – No. 1
Kick Line – No. 2
Married (reprise)
If You Could See Her
Incidental – Underscore (Why Should I Wake Up?)
What Would You Do?
Sally’s Revolt
Cabaret Incidental (Don’t Tell Mama)
Cabaret
Break Up – Underscore
Finale Ultimo
Curtain Calls
Exit Music

Songs Written For Movie

Mein Herr
Maybe This Time
Money

Song Written For The 1980′s Broadway Revival

Don’t Go

Cut Songs

Berlin Songs
Roommates
I Don’t Care Much
Good Time Charlie
It’ll All Blow Over

Awards

1967 Tony Awards: Best Musical, Best Original Score, Best Featured Actor (Gray), Best Featured Actress, Best Direction of a Musical, Best Choreography, Best Scenic Design, Best Costume Design.

1998 Tony Award: Best Revival, Best Performance by a Leading Actor (Cumming), Best Performance by a Leading Actress (Richardson), Best Featured Actor, Best Featured Actress,

Licensing

UK: Music Scope UK

USA: Tams-Witmark

Carrie

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Carrie: The Musical is one of the most infamous musicals of all time, after opening on Broadway and closing after only 5 performances. Based on the Stephen King novel of the same name, the musical features a book by Lawrence D. Cohen, music by Michael Gore and lyrics by Dean Pitchford. The show originally opened in Stratford in a production by the RSC, before transferring to Broadway in an $8million production. After unanimous negative reviews, investors pulled their money out of the project, forcing it to close. The show has had a number of revivals around the world, with an official 2012 off-Broadway revival receiving better notices than the original.

Music:

Michael Gore

Lyrics:

Dean Pitchford

Book / libretto:

Lawrence D. Cohen

Based on:

the Novel by Stephen King

Producer:

The Royal Shakespeare Company

Director:

Terry Hands

Choreography:

Debbie Allen

Productions

Original Stratford Production

RSC Stratford-Upon-Avon - Opened 13 Feb 1988, closed 1 Jan 1970

Original Broadway Production

Virginia Theatre - Opened 12 May 1988, closed 15 May 1988, 5 performances

Cast: Betty Buckley, Linzi Hatley, Charlotte d’Amboise, Paul Gygenell, Darlene Love, Gene Anthony Rapp and Sally Anne Triplett.

Broadway Revival

Lucille Lortel Theatre - Opened 1 Mar 2012, closed 8 Apr 2012, 46 performances

What was your favourite production? Add your thoughts in the comments box

Synopsis

Act I

The show begins in a high school gym. The gym teacher, Miss Gardner, is leading her girls’ gym class in a strenuous workout, encouraging the girls to “work, work, work” and “burn, burn, burn!” After class, the girls head to the locker room and have fun teasing a less attractive, plump girl named Carrie White. The girls start to shower while talking about boys and their plans for the upcoming prom. Their excited conversation is cut short by sudden screams from Carrie. “I’m bleeding!” “I’m dying!” The other girls realize Carrie has started her period and start taunting her. “Carrie’s got the curse!” Hearing the commotion, Miss Gardner rushes in and slaps the hysterical Carrie to calm her down. Carrie stops screaming as the light bulb overhead explodes. Realizing that Carrie doesn’t understand what is happening to her, Miss Gardner sends the other girls out of the locker room. On the way out of the gym, Sue and Chris talk about what just happened in the locker room. Sue is already feeling remorseful for her part in the incident but Chris calls Carrie “Scary White.” Carrie is hurt by their name-calling and teasing and dreams of a day she’ll “make them sorry…for teasing Carrie.” Carrie’s momma Margaret is praying when Carrie arrives home. Carrie joins her mother in prayer for a few minutes and then explains what happened at school in the shower that day. Momma tells Carrie that the blood is a sign of her sin and tells her to “pray for forgiveness.” She opens a trap door to the cellar and forces a frightened Carrie down there to pray. That night, many of the high school kids are at the drive-in, including Sue and her boyfriend Tommy and Chris and her boyfriend Billy. Sue tells Tommy that she’s still upset about what she and the other girls did to Carrie in the locker room while Chris complains about Carrie to Billy. While the other kids are at the drive-in, Carrie and Margaret are home praying. Magraret prays for the strength to help her daughter while Carrie, depressed, questions God’s love for her. At school the following day, Miss Gardner tells the girls they must all apologize to Carrie. Sue and the other girls tell Carrie that they are sorry but Chris refuses. Upset, Miss Gardner tells Chris that she will not be allowed to go to the prom. Chris promises that she’s “gonna be sorry!” The rest of the girls leave and Carrie is left alone with Miss Gardner, who encourages Carrie to dream about her Prince Charming. Still upset over the way Carrie has been treated, Sue asks Tommy to take Carrie to the prom instead of her and he reluctantly agrees. At the same time, Chris asks Billy to help her get revenge on Carrie and he agrees to go along, in return for her “appreciation.” Tommy surprises Carrie by knocking on her door and asking her to go to prom. Confused, Carrie asks “why me,” but eventually agrees to go with him. Excited, Carrie tells her momma about the prom but Margaret tries to convince Carrie that all boys are the same: “demons”. She wants Carrie to repent and pray for forgiveness but Carrie has found new strength and refuses. She uses her supernatural powers to pin Margaret in her chair and sets her own hands aflame, telling her momma that “nothing you can say or do will ever stop me again.”

Act II

Act II begins on a pig farm, where Chris, Billy, and several of his friends, are on a mission. For their planned revenge on Carrie, they kill pigs and collect their blood. Back at the high school, Sue is confronted by girls who are upset that Carrie is going to the prom. “You’re not one of us anymore, Sue,” they tell her. Sue believes she is doing the right thing but realizes that doing the right thing is not always easy. Getting ready for the prom, Carrie dreams about her date and finally seems to be happy. In a more positive display of her special powers, she sends her dress, shoes, and hairbrush dancing through the air. Margaret tries one more time to convince Carrie not to go to the prom, promising “we’ll talk, we’ll laugh, and I’ll sing to you.” But Carrie doesn’t listen – she still has her dream that “they might like me.” Tommy arrives and they leave for the prom, leaving Margaret alone . Tommy and Carrie arrive at the prom and everyone is surprised at how beautiful Carrie is. Miss Gardner is there as a chaperone and talks to Carrie about how it feels to be in love. Carrie’s nervous about dancing with Tommy but he finally convinces her to go out on the dance floor with him. It’s time to vote for the prom queen and king – Tommy wants to vote for them but Carrie resists. Tommy finally convinces her and they win! Tommy and Carrie are the new king and queen of the prom. Tommy and Carrie get on the stage while the other students applaud and start to sing the school song. Suddenly, Billy and Chris (who have snuck into the prom) rush toward the stage and Billy dumps a bucket of pig’s blood over Carrie. Carrie goes crazy, remembering the names they have called her and how they all laughed at her. She tells them to “pray for your salvation” and then gets her revenge by using her telekinetic powers to collapse the gym roof, killing them all. Carrie goes home, covered in blood, and falls into her mother’s arms. Margaret comforts her daughter. Unexpectedly, Margaret pulls out a knife and stabs Carrie, delivering a fatal wound. Carrie uses her supernatural powers one last time and gives her momma a last, fatal touch causing her to fall dead. Carrie, close to her own death, crawls away and is comforted by Sue – the only student who wasn’t at the prom.

Songs

Overture
In
Dear Lord
Locker Room*
Dream On
Carrie )
Open Your Heart
And Eve Was Weak
Don’t Waste The Moon
Evening Prayers
If He Loves Me, Why Do I Feel So All Alone?
Unsuspecting Hearts
Do Me A Favor
I Remember How Those Boys Could Dance
It Hurts To Be Strong
Out For Blood
I’m Not Alone
Carrie (Reprise #1)
When There’s No One
Wotta Night
Unsuspecting Hearts (Reprise)
Heaven
Heaven (Reprise)
Alma Mater
The Destruction
Carrie (Reprise #2)

Awards

1988 Theatre World Award: Best Broadway Debut (Linzi Hateley)

Rent

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Rent deals with starving artists living in New York City’s East Village. It focuses on the lives of Mark, a film-maker, who’s girlfriend, Maureen, a drama queen performance-artist-turned-lesbian, leaves him for another woman, Joanne who is an attorney. Mark lives with his roommate Roger, a struggling musician who just wants to write “one great song” before he dies of AIDS. One day he meets Mimi, an S&M dancer also with AIDS, and who is addicted to heroin. They fall in love. Mark and Roger’s ex-roommate Tom Collins, a philosopher, who has just returned from M.I.T meets and falls in love with Angel, a Latino street-drummer/drag queen.They also have AIDS. Mark and Roger are continuously hounded by their ex-roommate Benny, who is now their extremely wealthy landlord begging them for the rent. It focuses on a year in their lives, and their struggles of paying the rent, eviction, death, drugs, and living one day at a time.

Music:

Jonathan Larson

Lyrics:

Jonathan Larson

Book / libretto:

Jonathan Larson

Based on:

the opera 'La Boheme'

Producer:

Jeffrey Seller, Kevin McCollum, Allan S. Gordon and the New York Theatre Workshop

Director:

Michael Greif

Choreography:

Marlies Yearby

Productions

Original Broadway Production

Nederlander Theatre - Opened 25 Jan 1996, closed 7 Sep 2008, 5124 performances

Cast: Gilles Chaisson, Taye Diggs, Wilson Jermaine Heredia, Rodney Hicks, Kristen Lee Kelly, Jesse L. Martin, Idina Menzel, Aiko Nakasone, Timothy Britten Parker, Adam Pascal, Anthony Rapp, Daphne Rubin-Vega, Gwen Stewart, Byron Utley & Fredi Walker

Original London Production

Shaftesbury Theatre - Opened 12 May 1998, closed 30 Oct 1999

Rent First London Revival

Prince of Wales Theatre - Opened 4 Dec 2001, closed 1 Mar 2003

Second London Revival - "Rent Remixed"

Duke of York's Theatre - Opened 16 Oct 2007, closed 1 Jan 1970

Off-Broadway Revival

New World Stages - Opened 11 Aug 2011, closed 1 Jan 1970

What was your favourite production? Add your thoughts in the comments box

Synopsis

Twitter Synopsis:

A group of Bohemians living with AIDS document a year in their life as cross gendered relationships blossom against a struggle to live.

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The show opens on Christmas Eve as an aspiring film maker Mark begins to make a documentary. He focus’s in on his room-mate Rodger who is tuning his guitar and trying to write ‘one great song’. The group live in the East village and struggle to pay their rent, despite owing it to one of their old friends Benny, who has left and married a rich woman. Their friend Collins comes to visit but is mugged on his way to the building and is found by Angel, a drag queen. The two both have AIDS and begin a bond. Mark tries to get Rodger to leave the apartment and face the world after his girlfriend dumped him and became a lesbian. Rodger is also suffering with AIDS and wants to make his mark on the world, when their neighbour Mimi arrives to ask for a light on her candle. The pair flirt and Mimi keeps letting her candle out so they can stay together.

Angel arrives with Collins and Benny tries to persuade the group to make Maureen cancel her protest against him. They reject his offer and Angel and Collins invite Mark and Roger to attend their AIDS support group meeting. Mark is called to help Maureen’s sound equipment for her protest, meeting her new girlfriend Joanne. They both commiserate about Maureen’s unfaithful ways. Mimi is a stripper and attempts to seduce Rodger, but he is afraid of falling in love again and reveals that he is scared of dying of AIDS. Collins tells Angel about his plans of moving to Santa Fe and the pair confess their love for each other, beginning a relationship. The group gather to watch Maureen’s protest show, and Roger finds Mimi buying drugs on the street. Maureen’s performance is avant garde and depicts Benny in a bad life. The group move on to the Life Café where they celebrate their life as bohemians Mimi and Rodger realise both of them have AIDS and they share their first kiss. The group are told they have to leave their apartment as there is a riot on the streets caused by Maureen’s protest.

The second act begins on New Year’s Eve as the group attempt to get back into their apartment. Mark’s footage of the riots appears on TV but he refuses to sell out. Benny reveals that he is a former lover of Mimi, which upsets Rodger. Maureen and Joanne fight about their relationship and we move forward to Spring of the next year. Rodger is growing jealous of Mimi and Benny’s relationship and accuses her of having an affair, when actually she is just taking drugs. Angel’s body begins to be consumed by AIDS and he passes away, leaving Collins heartbroken. At his funeral Mark begins to worry what will happen when all of his friends die around him. He accepts a job offer from the news company. Mimi and Rodger break up and both Rodger and Mark have an artistic epiphany as Mark decides to make his film about Angel’s memory and Rodger writes his song about Mimi.

As time moves on Collins finds money in an ATM as Maureen and Joanne find a dying Mimi who manages to tell Rodger that she loves him. He plays his new song to her as she passes away, but suddenly jumps back to life saying Angel told her to stay away from the light. The show ends a year after it began and the Bohemians rejoice in what they have.

Songs

Act I

Tune Up #1 …………..Mark, Roger, Mrs. Cohen,
Voice Mail #1 …………..Mark, Roger, Mrs. Cohen,
…………………..Collins, Benny
Rent ………………….The Company
You Okay Honey?…………………………Angel, Collins
One Song Glory …………………………………Roger
Light My Candle ……………………………Roger, Mimi
Tune Up #2
Voice Mail #2……………………..Mr. & Mrs. Jefferson
Today 4 U………………………………………Angel
You’ll See……………Benny, Mark, Collins, Roger, Angel
Tango: Maureen……………………………Mark, Joanne
Life Support………………….Paul, Gordon, The Company
Out Tonight……………………………………Mimi
Another Day……………………Roger, Mimi, The Company
Will I?…………………………….Steve, The Company
On the Street……………………………..The Company
Santa Fe ……………………….Collins and The Company
I’ll Cover You …………………………Angel, Collins
We’re Okay…………………………………….Joanne
Christmas Bells……………………………The Company
Over the Moon…………………………………Maureen
La Vie Boheme/I Should Tell You……………..The Company

ACT II

Seasons Of Love …………………………..The Company
Happy New Year
Voice Mail #3…………..Mimi, Roger, Mark,
Happy New Year B……….Maureen, Joanne, Collins,Angel, Mrs.
…………….. Cohen, Alexi Darling, Benny
Take Me Or Leave Me …………………….Maureen, Joanne
Without You ……………………………….Roger, Mimi
Voice Mail #4……………………………Alexi Darling
Contact …………………………………..The Company
I’ll Cover You (Reprise) …………….Collins, The Company
Halloween …………………………………….Mark
Goodbye, Love………………..Mark, Mimi, Roger, Maureen,
………………. Joanne, Collins, Benny
What You Own, ……….Pastor, Mark, Collins, Benny, Roger
Voice Mail #5……………….Roger’s Mom, Mimi’s Mom, Mr.
……………….. Jefferson, Mrs. Cohen
Your Eyes, …………………….Roger
Finale B …………………….Roger, The Company

Awards

Winner of the 1996 Pulitzer Prize for Best American Drama
Winner of the 1996 New York Drama Critics Circle Award for Best Musical.
Winner of the 1996 Outer Critics Circle Award for Best Off-Broadway Musical.
Winner of the 1996 Drama League Award for Best Musical.
Winner of six 1996 Drama Desk Awards including Best Musical, Book, Score, and Lyrics.
Winner of four 1996 Tony Awards for Best Musical, Best Score, Best Book (both Jonathan Larson) and Best Featured Actor in a Musical (Wilson Jermaine Heredia).

Licensing

UK: Josef Weinberger

USA: Musical Theatre International

Once On This Island

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Once on This Island comes from the writers of ‘Ragtime’, Stephen Flaherty and Lynn Ahrens as is based on the 1985 novel ‘My Love, My Love’. The show is set in the French Antilles in the Caribbean and is known by many people as the Caribbean retelling of The Little Mermaid. An orphaned girl brings together two feuding worlds by falling in love with a boy from a different social class. The people of the island are watched over by the Gods of Love, Earth, Water and Death and pray to them to help their lives. The show is often performed by amateur theatre groups, and is a useful tool to explore class, gender and racial differences. The London production won the Olivier Award for Best New Musical.

Music:

Stephen Flaherty

Lyrics:

Lynn Ahrens

Book / libretto:

Lynn Ahrens

Based on:

My Love, My Love by Rosa Guy

Producer:

Shubert Organization, Capital Cities/ABC, Suntory International and James Walsh in association with Playwrights Horizons

Director:

Graciela Daniele

Choreography:

Graciela Daniele

Productions

Once on This Island - Original Broadway

The Booth Theatre - Opened 18 Oct 1990, closed 1 Dec 1991

Cast: Jerry Dixon, Andrea Frierson, Sheila Gibbs, La Chanze, Kecia Lewis-Evans, Afi McClendon, Gerry McIntyre, Milton Craig Nealey, Nikki Rene, Eric Riley & Ellis E. Williams

Once on This Island - Original London

The Peacock Theatre - Opened 1 Sep 1994, closed 1 Jan 1970

Once on This Island - London Revival

The Hackney Empire - Opened 1 Jun 2009, closed 1 Jan 1970

Cast: Sharon D Clarke

What was your favourite production? Add your thoughts in the comments box

Synopsis

The story begins on a dark stormy night where a small girl cries in the dark. The villagers tell her the story of Ti Moune, a peasant girl who fell in love with a grand homme, Daniel. Although they were from two different walks of life, they were brought together through the intervention of the four Gods: Asaka, Mother of the Earth; Agwe God of Water; Erzulie goddess of love; and Papa Ge the sly demon of death. On one side of the island the dark skinned peasants live in poverty, and on the other the lighter skinned Grand Hommes, descendants of French planters. Ti Moune is saved after Agwe unleashes a storm on the villages and is found by Mama Euralie and Tonton Julian.

As Ti Moune grows up she is bored of life, and prays to the gods to hear her prayer and bring something exciting into her life. The Gods laugh but Erzulie decides to give her love, saying it is the strongest force of nature. Agwe sends a rainstorm that results in a car crash and Ti Moune saves Daniel from the accident. None of the other peasants want to help save him, but Ti Moune falls in love with him and swears to look after him. Papa Ge arrives to take his life, but Ti Moune trades her own life for his. She now belongs to Papa Ge.

Daniel returns to the land of the Beauxhommes and Ti Moune is devestated. She decides she will travel to see him so they can get married. She is helped on her journey by the gods who give her the gifts of nature and love to aid her journey. As she arrives at the palace, Daniel does not recognise her. She describes the scar on his chest and he slowly remembers. He begins to fall in love with her again and the peasants gossip about the relationship between a rich Beauxhomme and a peasant girl.

At a ball held by the upper levels of society, Andrea, Daniel’s intended, makes Ti Moune dance to try and humiliate her. She dances for the gathered crown who are impressed by her, but she finds out that Daniel is betrothed to Andrea against his wishes. She is heartbroken, and Papa Ge arrives to remind her that her life belongs to him. He tells her that she can only revoke the bargain if she kills Daniel. She sneaks into Daniel’s room with a knife, but can’t bring herself to kill him, proving Erzulie’s point that love is always stronger than death. She is thrown out of the palace but she waits for days at the gates to see Daniel, just as Daniel and Andrea are married. Ti Moune is ignored by Daniel, but he places a coin in her hand, as is the tradition of giving peasants money after a wedding. Erzulie guides her to the ocean and Agwe allowed her to drown peacefully. Papa Ge then took her body back to shore where Asaka transformed her into a tree and the gates of the hotel Beauxhommes. It becomes a symbol of freedom and life and the show ends as we see Daniel’s son meet another peasant girl and the story is told again and again.

Songs

We Dance
One Small Girl
Waiting For Life
And The Gods Heard Her Prayer
Rain
Pray
Forever Yours
The Sad Tale Of The Beauxhommes
Ti Moune
Mama Will Provide
Some Say
The Human Heart
Some Girls
The Ball
A Part Of Us
Why We Tell The Story

Awards

1995 Olivier Awards: Best New Musical

Licensing

UK: Josef Weinberger

USA: Musical Theatre International

Bye Bye Birdie

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Bye Bye Birdie features music by Charles Strouse with lyrics by Lee Adams and book by Michael Stewart. This popular musical is a satire on American society in the early 1960s surrounding the teenage obsession with singers such as Elvis and the rock’n’roll movement. As teenage idol Conrad Birdie is conscripted into the Army, a legion of fans fight for publicity one last time. The original Broadway production won the Tony Award for Best Musical and spawned successful revivals and national tours. Although the show has never done as well in the UK, it is a popular choice for American High Schools, Summer Camps and colleges.

Music:

Charles Strouse

Lyrics:

Lee Adams

Book / libretto:

Michael Stewart

Director:

Gower Champion

Choreography:

Gower Champion

Productions

Original Broadway Production

April 14, 1960 – October 7, 1961; 54 Street Theatre, (607 performances)

Cast: Dick Van Dyke, Chita Rivera, Paul Lynde, Dick Gautier, Susan Watson, Kay Medford and Charles Nelson Reilly

Original London Production

June 1961; Her Majesty’s Theatre, (269 performances)

Broadway Revival

May 2004; City Center Encores! Production

Broadway Revival

October 15, 2009 – January 24, 2010; Henry Miller Theatre

Cast: John Stamos, Gina Gershon, Bill Irwin, Jayne Houdyshell, Nolan Gerard Funk, Riley Costello

What was your favourite production? Add your thoughts in the comments box

Synopsis

Conrad Birdie, an Elvis-like pop icon, is drafted into the Army, much to the chagrin of teenaged girls everywhere and his beleaguered agent, Albert Peterson. Albert’s girlfriend Rosie comes up with a plan to give away Conrad’s “one last kiss” before heading to war to a member of his fan club. In return, she hopes Albert will take the opportunity to finally pursue his ambition of becoming “An English Teacher.”

Teenager Kim MacAfee from Sweet Apple, Ohio is the lucky girl chosen out of thousands to be kissed by Conrad on live television. He and his entourage descend on the small town, already abuzz with the news that Kim and Hugo Peabody are finally going steady (“The Telephone Hour”). As they depart New York City, Albert is mobbed by teenagers who are devastated that Conrad is joining the army, but he encourages them to “Put On a Happy Face.”

Reporters flock to the tiny town wanting to speak to Conrad, but Albert and Rosie deflect the attention and try to assure the public that he is just “A Healthy, Normal, American Boy.” Hugo becomes worried that Kim is more interested in Conrad than him, but she assures Hugo that he’s the “One Boy” for her. Conrad sings “Honestly Sincere,” which works the teenaged girls into a frenzy and only fuels Hugo’s jealousy further.

As part of the publicity stunt, Conrad moves into the MacAfee household, drawing the ire of Kim’s father with his rock star antics. Albert manages to convince Mr. MacAfee to allow Conrad to stay by assuring him the entire family will appear on the Ed Sullivan Show, the most popular television programme in the country (“Hymn For a Sunday Evening- Ed Sullivan”).

To add to Albert’s problems, his overbearing mother, Mae, arrives in the hopes of breaking up his relationship with Rosie, who she dislikes because she is Hispanic. Mae brings Gloria Rasputin with her, a voluptuous and ditzy blonde she met on the bus who she suggests as a replacement. Rosie becomes infuriated with Albert’s coddling of his mother and imagines “How to Kill a Man” in a ballet.

Conrad and Kim finally appear on the Ed Sullivan show for “One Last Kiss,” which is interrupted at the last minute by Hugo running onstage to punch Conrad in the face. Mortified, Kim and Rosie decide to leave Hugo and Albert, singing “What Did I Ever See in Him.” Unfazed, Conrad convinces Kim and the teenagers they all have “A Lot of Livin’ to Do” and brings them to the Ice House, where a party is going on without adult supervision. On discovering Kim has run away, Mr. and Mrs. MacAfee bemoan what’s wrong with “Kids” these days.
Meanwhile, Rosie finds herself in a roadside tavern that’s hosting a Shriners meeting, hoping to forget about Albert. She begins to flirt with the members and begins to dance with them before being rescued by Albert, who declares his love and finally stands up to his mother. The parents discover their children have gone to the Ice House and have Conrad arrested. Kim realises she was being foolish and decides to return to Hugo.

Rosie confronts Mae for her racism in a tongue-in-cheek performance of “Spanish Rose.” Albert manages to bail Conrad out of jail and dresses him as a woman to sneak him out of town, putting his mother on the same train back to New York. He reveals to Rosie that he has accepted a job teaching English in Iowa, and they happily decide to get married.

Songs

Act I

Overture
An English Teacher
The Telephone Hour
How Lovely To Be A Woman
Put On A Happy Face
Honestly Sincere
One Boy
100 Ways Ballet
Hymn For Sunday Evening
A Lot Of Livin’ To Do
A Healthy Normal American Boy
Kids
Baby, Talk To Me
One Last Kiss
Finale Act I

Act II

Entr’acte “A”
Entr’acte “B”
What Did I Ever See In Him
Spanish Rose
Rosie
Kids Reprise
Ice House Livin’
Shriner’s Ballet
Finale
Bows And Exit Music

Awards

1961 Tony Awards: Best Musical, Best Performance by a Featured Actor, Best Direction, Best Choreography.

Licensing

UK: Music Scope UK

USA: Tams-Witmark

Aida

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Aida is based on Verdi’s opera of the same name. Now entitled Elton John and Tim Rice’s Aida, the production marked the third Broadway outing for Walt Disney Theatricals after smash-hit successes Beauty and the Beast and The Lion King. As well as a score by Elton John and Tim Rice, Aida features a book by Linda Woolverton, who has worked on previous Disney successes. Opening on Broadway in 2000, the musical ran for almost 2000 productions, receiving a mixed response from audiences and critics. Although considered to be a huge financial success, the show never transferred to London. Heather Headley became a star thanks to Aida, winning a Tony Award for her portrayal of the title role.

Music:

Elton John

Lyrics:

Tim Rice

Book / libretto:

Linda Woolverton, Robert Falls and David Henry Hwang

Based on:

Giuseppe Verdi's opera of the same name

Producer:

Walt Disney Theatrical

Director:

Robert Falls

Choreography:

Wayne Cilento

Productions

Original Broadway Production

Palace Theatre - Opened 23 Mar 2000, closed 5 Sep 2004, 1852 performances

Cast: Heather Headley (Aida), Adam Pascal (Radames), Sherie Rene Scott (Amneris), Tyrees Allen (Amonasro), John Hickok (Zoser), Daniel Oreskes (Pharaoh), Damian Perkins (Mereb), Schele Williams (Nehebka) Replacements included: Deborah Cox, Toni Braxton, Michelle Williams, Maya Days, Saycon Sengbloh, Merle Dandridge (Aida), Will Chase, Patrick Cassidy, Richard H. Blake, William Robert Gaynor, Matt Bogart (Radames), Idina Menzel, Jessica Hendy, Mandy Gonzalez, Felicia Finley, Taylor Dayne, Lisa Brescia (Amneris)

US Tour (2001)

US Tour - Opened 6 Apr 2001, closed 17 Aug 2003

Cast: Simone (Aida), Patrick Cassidy (Radames), Kelli Fournier (Amneris) Replacements: Jeremy Kushnier (Radames), Lisa Brescia (Amneris)

What was your favourite production? Add your thoughts in the comments box

Synopsis

Twitter Synopsis:

A Nubian slave is captured by an Egyptian Captain who falls in love with her and gives her as a gift to a Princess, creating a love triangle.

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Aida opens in a modern day museum amongst the Egyptian artefacts. A statue of Amneris, a female Pharaoh comes to life, taking the story to Ancient Egypt, where the Egyptian army have returned from a successful expedition through Nubia. Led by Radames, the army makes its way back to the palace, but Radames is captivated by one of the Nubian women Aida, and asks her to wash his back. She refuses, saying that whilst Egypt steal everything from Nubia, they won’t take her pride. Radames sends her to be a handmaiden to his betrothed Princess Amneris. Radames’s father prepares him to take over as Pharaoh, not telling his son that he is accelerating his death by slowly poisoning him.

Whilst handing over Aida to Amneris, she is recognised by Radames’s Nubian servant as a Nubian princess. She silences him, telling him that her identity must remain secret or she will die. Amneris takes to Aida straight away and shares her love of fashion with her, befriending her. The Pharaoh tells Amneris and Radames that they are to be married in seven days and Radames is upset that his youthful life is coming to an end and shares his dreams with Aida.

Amneris confides in Aida about her father’s ill health, Radames steals a moment with Aida and tells her that he has developed feelings for her. Aida is then led to a Nubian camp where her people ask her to lead them to victory. Aida goes to Radames and asks him to help her people, and he gives some of his possessions to them and sings about his love for Aida. Aida and Radames embrace, unable to restrain their feelings any longer. They are interrupted by the news that Aida’s father, the king of Nubia, has been captured. Aida has faith that her people and Nubia won’t die.

As Act II opens Aida, Radames and Amneris are locked in a conflicting set of loyalties and actions. Aida manages to get to see her father and they plan to free him during the wedding ceremony of Radames and Amneris. Aida realises that the only way she can save her father and Nubia is to betray her father. Radames’s father finds out about his affair with Aida and order his men to kill her, warning his son about losing the throne. Radames writes to Aida apologising for his behaviour, but Aida is ready to leave him forever. Radames tells Aida that he is going to leave Amneris, but Aida knows this wont help her father and encourages him to go through with the marriage. Radames promises to help Aida escape but Amneris has overheard the whole conversation.

Aida’s father escapes, but the plan is foiled and Radames intervenes by letting his boat set sail. Aida and Radames are arrested for treason, and Amneris uses her powers as future Pharaoh to get them both buried in the same tomb so they can be together. As they are buried together, they swear to each other that they will find one another in a future life. Nubia and Egypt are no longer at war, as the couple die underground.

Songs

Act I

“Every Story Is a Love Story” – Amneris
“Fortune Favors the Brave” – Radames and the Soldiers
“The Past Is Another Land” – Aida
“Another Pyramid” – Zoser and the Ministers
“How I Know You” – Mereb and Aida
“My Strongest Suit” – Amneris and Women of the Palace
“Enchantment Passing Through” – Radames and Aida
“My Strongest Suit (Reprise)” – Amneris and Aida
“The Dance of the Robe” – Aida, Nehebka and the Nubians
“Not Me” – Radames, Mereb, Aida and Amneris
“Elaborate Lives” – Radames and Aida
“The Gods Love Nubia” – Aida, Nehebka, Mereb and the Nubians

Act II

“A Step Too Far” – Amneris, Radames and Aida
“Easy As Life” – Aida
“Like Father Like Son” – Zozer, Radames and the Ministers
“Radames’ Letter” – Radames
“How I Know You (Reprise)” – Mereb
“Written in the Stars” – Aida and Radames
“I Know the Truth” – Amneris
“Elaborate Lives (Reprise)” – Aida and Radames
“Every Story Is a Love Story (Reprise)” – Amneris

Awards

2000 Tony Awards: Best Original Score (Elton John and Tim Rice), Best Actress in a Musical (Heather Headley), Best Scenic Design (Bob Crowley), Best Lighting Design (Natasha Katz)

2000 Drama Desk Awards: Outstanding Actress in a Musical (Heather Headley)

2000 Grammy Awards: Best Musical Show Album (Elton John and Tim Rice)

2000 Clarence Derwent Awards: Most Promising Female (Sherie Rene Scott)

Licensing

UK: Josef Weinberger

USA: Musical Theatre International

Blitz!

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Blitz! features a score by Lionel Bart, renowned composer of ‘Oliver!’. The musical is set in the East End of London during the Second World War, and takes its name from the aerial bombings inflicted on London by the Germans. The story brought together moments of Bart’s Jewish upbringing and featured two star crossed lovers, a Jewish woman and a Cockney Man. The story is told through the eyes of Mrs Blitztein, the mother of the Jewish woman. The show has never been presented on Broadway, despite Bart’s popularity with Oliver! as it was thought that the theme was too British orientated. One of the songs was written for Vera Lynn, and her recording is featured in the musical.

Music:

Lionel Bart

Lyrics:

Lionel Bart

Book / libretto:

Lionel Bart & Joan Maitland

Director:

Lionel Bart

Productions

Original London Production

Adelphi Theatre - Opened 8 May 1962, closed 14 Dec 2012

Cast: Amelia Bayntun, Bob Grant, Grazina Frame, Graham James, Thomas Kempinski, Toni Palmer & Edward Caddick

London Revival

The Playhouse Theatre - Opened 1 Sep 1990, closed 1 Jan 1970

Cast: Amelia Bayntun, Bob Grant, Grazina Frame, Graham James, Thomas Kempinski, Toni Palmer & Edward Caddick

What was your favourite production? Add your thoughts in the comments box

Synopsis

Blitz! is set during the air raids of the Second World War in London. Two families, the Jewish Blitzteins and the Cockney Lockes feud over their neighbouring market stalls, although their children Georgie Locke and Carol Blitztein are in love. The musical opens at Bank underground station as crowds of people shelter from the German Air Raids that have become a daily occurrence. We are introduced to the two families as they welcome their sons Georgie Locke and Harry Blitztein who are home from leave from the war for one week. Georgie catches the eye of Carol and whilst their parents continue to bicker, they begin to get closer and closer. Georgie tells Harry that he is in love with his sister, and Harry advises him against it, saying it is likely to cause trouble. The whole station settles down to listen to Vera Lynn on the wireless.

The news brings reports of more deaths, which include Tommy Blackwell’s parents who refused to go down to the shelter. Tommy is asleep, and Mrs Blitztein decides she will send him and her own son Siddy to the country for safety. The children of the street are lined up the next day to be evacuated, and they leave just in time as the bombing continues to get worse and worse. The area around Petticoat Lane has been destroyed and many families have lost their houses. They have to rally round and take in people to their homes. Mrs Blitztein shares her thoughts on Hitler. She is also upset at her children as Georgie has left a Jewish woman in favour of Carol and Harry has ran off with a married woman. Georgie asks Carol if she will wait for him to return from fighting and they sneak off to spend one final night together. Their parents try to find them but to no avail. The pair are caught outside during an air raid, in which Carol is blinded. Mrs Blitztein catches Harry stealing lead pipes and is disgusted that he won’t go back to the army.

At the station Georgie waits for Carol to come and wave him off. Harry’s former girlfriend tries to buy Harry time as he hasn’t shown up for duty. Mrs Blitztein has looked after Carol throughout the night and tells her son that she can’t see him off. Georgie understands and tells his mother of his intention to marry her when he returns.

Six months later Carol is blindly walking the streets around Petticoat Lane. The market begins to pick up and news of Georgie’s return comes to some of the family. The bombing has died down and the children return to London from the countryside. Carol finds out that Georgie is returning and that he didn’t want her to know and worries that it is because she is blind. Harry continues to be on the run from his duties, having worked on the black market for six months. Mrs Blitztein is in despair at her life and prays to her late husband to send her guidance.

Georgie emerges from the pub where he is drinking is troubles away. He sees himself as a failure as a son, soldier and boyfriend. He meets Harry and tells him he is too nervous to see Carol. Mrs Blitztein finds Georgie and tries to find out what he thinks about Carol. He tells her that he still loves her but is worried that she won’t like him after the war has made him a changed man.

Carol is brought to George and the have a reunion as George tells her that he loves her and proposes. Harry attends the wedding and says he is going back to his duty and the family feud seems somewhat resolved.

Songs

Opening/Prologue
Our Hotel
Tell Him, Tell Her
I Want To Whisper Something
The Day After Tomorrow
We’re Going To The Country
Another Morning
Who’s this Geezer Hitler?
Be What You Wanna Be
As Long As This Is England
Opposites
Magic Doorway
Bake A Cake
Leave It To The Ladies
The Day After Tomorrow (reprise)

ACT II

Entr’acte
Far Away
Petticoat Lane
Down The Lane
So Tell Me
Mums And Dads
Who Wants To Settle Back
Is This Gonna Be A Wedding?
Duty Calls
Finale

Licensing

UK: Josef Weinberger

Bells Are Ringing

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Bells Are Ringing features music by Jule Styne with book and lyrics by Betty Comden and Adolph Green. This show takes us back to a time before answering machines and high technology, when a real person answered your ringing telephone for you, if you couldn’t do it yourself. Welcome to Susanswerphone, where the lines are blurred between doing a job and eavesdropping. The story and musical numbers are delightful and uplifting. Just in Time, Better Than a Dream, Drop That Name and A Simple Little System keep actors and audiences smiling. The original Broadway production opened in 1956 and ran successfully for over 2 years.

Music:

Jule Styne

Lyrics:

Betty Comden and Adolph Green

Book / libretto:

Betty Comden and Adolph Green

Producer:

The Theatre Guild

Director:

Jerome Robbins

Choreography:

Jerome Robbins and Bob Fosse

Productions

Original Broadway Production

November 29, 1956; Schubert Theatre, (924 performances)

Cast: Judy Holliday, Sydney Chaplin, Jean Stapleton, Eddie Lawrence

Original London Production

November 14, 1957; Coliseum Theatre (292 performances)

Cast: Janet Blair, George Gaynes, Jean St. Clair, Eddie Malloy

Broadway Revival

April 12, 2001; Plymouth Theatre (68 performances)

Cast: Faith Prince, Marc Kudisch, David Garrison, Beth Fowler

Concert Revival

2002; Encores! New York City Centre

Cast: Kelli O’Hara, Will Chase, Judy Kaye

What was your favourite production? Add your thoughts in the comments box

Synopsis

Welcome to a world before voicemails! Nowadays, if you aren’t home your voicemail picks up your calls, but before this high technology ‘Susanswerphone’ was there to blur the line between helpfulness and eavesdropping. The show opens with eight girls moaning about their lack of telephone calls. They consider hiring a service to answer their phone when they are out of the house. Sue runs her own service known as ‘Susanswerphone’, employing her cousin Ella to take the calls and deliver messages. Although things start out okay, she begins to get involved in the lives of the people who she takes messages for, and falls in love with one of the men whom she has never met. Her feelings for Jeff Moss become apparent and she is determined to help him out with his next play that he is currently struggling to write. Her charm and telephone manner begin to involve herself quickly in his life.

Meanwhile Sue falls in love with Sandor, the owner of Titanic Records. He sets up an outlet in her office space, which he uses to mask his criminal dealings. The police think that ‘Susanswerphone’ is merely a front for Sandor’s book-making ring of deception. Ella decides to meet Jeff and creates an alter ego for herself, going to his home and convincing him to rework his latest play. They go out for dinner and sparks begin to fly as they learn how to Cha-Cha. In Central Park, he tells her that he loves her, but after taking her to a party she is made to feel below his social station and is lost for conversation. She runs away and Jeff still hasn’t worked out who he really is.

Sandor is suffering with racing debts and has to borrow money. He plans a trip abroad with Sue as the Police begin to close in. Ella encounters three other men who her meddling has helped. She decides to run away but Jeff finally realises who she is as the show ends happily for all.

Songs

Bells Are Ringing
Mucha-Cha
It’s a Perfect Relationship
On My Own
Drop That Name
It’s a Simple Little System
Is It a Crime
Salzburg
Hello Hello There!
I Met a Girl
Midas Touch
Long Before I Knew You
I’m Goin’ Back
Just in Time
The Party’s Over
Mu-cha-cha
Better Than a Dream
Do it Yourself

Awards

1957 Tony Awards: Best Performance by a Leading Actress, Best Performance by a Featured Actor, Best Musical (nomination)

Licensing

UK: Music Scope UK

USA: Tams-Witmark

Finian’s Rainbow

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Finian’s Rainbow is a mythical musical set in the southern states of America, where an Irish man and his daughter travel to bury a pot of gold at the site of Fort Knox. Followed by a leprechaun, mistakes and confusions collide creating a fun musical comedy. Featuring music by Burton Lane and lyrics by EY Harburg the score has delivered a number of standards such as ‘Look to the Rainbow’ and ‘Old Devil Moon’ which have been covered by various artists around the world. The Broadway production ran for over a year and attempts to revive the show have been made in recent years with varying levels of success.

Music:

Burton Lane

Lyrics:

E.Y. Harburg

Book / libretto:

E.Y. Harburg and Fred Saidy

Producer:

Lee Sabinson & William Katzell

Director:

Bretaigne Windust

Choreography:

Michael Kidd

Productions

Original Broadway Production

46th Street Theatre - Opened 10 Jan 1947, closed 1 Jan 1970, 725 performances

Cast: Ella Logan, Albert Sharpe, Donald Richards, David Wayne, Anita Alvarez, Robert Pitkin

Original London Production

Palace Theatre - Opened 21 Oct 1947, closed 1 Jan 1970, 44 performances

Concert Revival

Encore! Concert - Opened 26 Mar 2009, closed 29 Mar 2009

Broadway Revival

St. James Theatre - Opened 29 Oct 2009, closed 17 Jan 2010

What was your favourite production? Add your thoughts in the comments box

Synopsis

Finian McLonergan and his daughter Sharon travel from the small town of Glocca Morra, Ireland to Rainbow Valley in the fictional state of Missitucky USA. They are followed by a small leprechaun named Og who is after Finian because he has stolen his pot of gold to plant in the soil next to Fort Knox in the hope that it will make him rich. Og needs to find the gold, or all of the leprechauns in Glocca Morra will lose their magical powers.

As they arrive they encounter Buzz, the stooge of the racist Senator Billboard Rawkins trying to take money from the land owners for not paying their taxes. Local land owner Woody and his mute sister Susan arrive in time with money to pay the taxes but find they are $70 short. Susan can’t talk so instead communicates with her feet by dancing. Finian lends them some money to brighten their day.

Woody and Sharon begin to fall in love just as Finian manages to bury the pot of gold. Meanwhile, the racist sheriff is preparing to get rid of the townsfolk of Rainbow Valley for going against the law of the south and letting blacks mix with whites. Sharon is outraged at his behaviour and wishes that he could feel what it is like to be on the other side of his racist remarks. As she makes her wish over the buried pot of gold, it comes true and the Senator turns black and runs off to hide in the woods.

Everyone begins to hear about the gold hidden in Rainbow Valley but only Finian knows where it is hidden. They all rush to go and find it as Susan dances and is drawn to the pot, digging it up and burying it in a different location. Og watches her and casts a spell to cure the Senator of his bad behaviour. Og falls in love with Susan and sings to her.

Sharon is accused of being a witch thanks to her efforts at turning the Senator black. The town prepares to burn her at the stake. At the last minute the Senator returns proving that all is well again. Sharon marries Woody, and Susan is able to speak, marrying Og. Finian meanwhile continues to spread his happiness and rainbows around to whoever needs it.

Songs

Overture
This Time of Year
How Are Things in Glocca Morra?
Look to the Rainbow
Look to the Rainbow Dance
Old Devil Moon
Something Sort of Grandish
If This Isn’t Love
Something Sort of Grandish reprise
Necessity
That Great Come-and-Get-It-Day
When the Idle Poor Become the Idle Rich
The Begat
When I’m Not Near the Girl I Love
Finale

Awards

1947 Tony Awards: Orchestra Conductor, Musical Performance and Choreography

Licensing

UK: Josef Weinberger

USA: Tams-Witmark

Street Scene

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Street Scene is sometimes referred to an American Opera, along the similar lines to Gershwin’s ‘Porgy and Bess’. The score was created by Kurt Weill, including lyrics by Langston Hughes with book by Elmer Rice. The musical is based on Rice’s earlier play of the same name which went on to win the Pulitzer Prize. The original production enjoyed modest success although it was partly a commercial failure. The show has not been revived on Broadway, although it is a popular choice for Opera companies in both the USA and UK. A successful revival by The Opera Group at the Young Vic in 2008 brought the show to the attention of West End audiences and has gone on to further productions around the world.

Music:

Kurt Weill

Lyrics:

Langston Hughes

Book / libretto:

Elmer Rice

Producer:

Dwight Deere Wiman & The Playwrights Co.

Director:

Charles Friedman

Choreography:

Anna Sokolow

Productions

Original Broadway Production

Adelphi Theatre - Opened 9 Jan 1947, closed 1 Jan 1970

Cast: Norman Cordon, Anne Jeffreys, Polyna Stoska, Brian Sullivan, Hope Emerson, Sheila Bond, Danny Daniels, Don Saxon & Juanita Hall

Original London Production

London Coliseum - Opened 9 Jan 1989, closed 1 Jan 1970

London Revival

Young Vic - Opened 1 Jul 2008, closed 1 Jan 1970

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Synopsis

It is a hot summer day in a tenement on Manhattan’s East Side in 1946. The neighbours sit on their porches complaining about the heat before the gossip turns to Mrs. Maurrant, who is suspected to be having an affair with the milkman, Steve Sankey (“Get a Load of That”). Mrs. Maurrant arrives to chat with the neighbours, who quickly hush all talk of the alleged affair. Young Sam Kaplan comes out of his house and enquires after Mrs. Maurrant’s daughter, Rose, but is told she has not returned form work.

Mrs. Maurrant’s husband, Frank comes home and they fight over the fact that Rose is not back from work (“She Shouldn’t Be Staying Out Nights”). He storms into the house, just as Steve Sankey arrives. The women are very suspicious, particularly when Mrs. Maurrant follows him when he leaves. Mrs. Olsen arrives to claim she has just seen them standing together nearby. Mrs. Maurrant returns and Frank asks her where she’s been, and she says she’s been looking for their son, Willie. Frank gets into a fight with his neighbour Mr. Kaplan over their parenting styles, and Frank wishes people would “Let Things Be Like They Always Was.”

Sam arrives with Willie, who has been in a fight with a local youth. Sam stepped in to prevent Willie from being hurt, and Mrs. Maurrant takes Willie upstairs while Frank heads to a local bar, threatening that there will be trouble if Rose isn’t home when he gets back. With the family gone, the neighbours return to gossiping about the Maurrants, and Sam vehemently defends them. Most of the neighbours then retire for the evening, and Sam returns to his “Lonely House.” Rose arrives with her boss, Harry Easter, who walked her home after work. He makes a pass at her, promising she will be a Broadway star if they ran away together (“Wouldn’t You Like to Be on Broadway?”). She rejects his advances and sends him away when she sees her father coming home. He is furious that she has stayed out dancing and storms into their house.

One of the teenaged neighbours, Vincent, begins catcalling and harassing Rose, prompting Sam to rush to her defence. Vincent manages to knock Sam out, but retreats when he hears his mother calling him. Sam is embarrassed, but Rose is impressed. They share a kiss before Rose heads to bed.

The next morning, the children are playing outside before getting into a fight. Rose calls from her window for them to stop, and Sam comes outside to break it up. Rose tells Sam she has to head to the funeral of the head of her real estate firm. Mrs. Maurrant and Rose confront Frank about his behaviour and he flies into a rage. When Mrs. Maurrant asks how long he’ll be away on his next business trip, Frank accuses her of having an affair, which she denies. As he storms off, Rose and Mrs. Maurrant worry that “There’ll Be Trouble.”

Rose tells Sam about Harry’s offer of running away together, and he gets upset before suggesting that the he and Rose should be running off together instead. Rose agrees, and they plan to escape their humdrum lives (“We’ll Go Away Together”). She heads off to the funeral, and Sam watches as Steve arrives and heads up to the Maurrant house. Mrs. Maurrant pulls the shades down, just as Frank arrives having reconsidered his business trip. Sam pleads with Frank not to enter the house, but he pushes his way in. A scream is heard before two gunshots ring out. Steve appears in the window before being shot by Frank.

The neighbours congregate to see what the commotion is and Frank appears covered in blood brandishing a pistol as he makes his escape. The police arrive as does Rose, returning from the funeral. Sam tries to prevent her from seeing the tragic scene, but she too pushes her way in. She asks the police if her father has been found, but he has not. Sam has sent Willie to stay with an aunt.

The police finally find Frank in a nearby basement. He asks to speak to his daughter before being taken away, and they agree. Frank and a devastated Rose share a moment (“He Loved Her Too”) before he is arrested. Rose informs Sam that she is going away, and he pleads with her to stay as he loves her. She replies that her parents have proved to her that love does not exist and that she must go alone. The neighbours congregate and gossip about Rose being seen with Harry last night before conversation returns to the sweltering heat.

Songs

Ain’t It Awful, The Heat?
Boy Like You, A
Catch Me If You Can
Don’t Forget The Lilac Bush
Get A Load Of That
I Got A Marble And A StarI Loved Her Too
Ice Cream Sextet
Let Things Be Like They Always Was
Lonely House
Lullaby
Moon Faced, Starry Eyed
Remember That I Care
Somehow I Never Could Believe
There’ll Be Trouble
We’ll Go Away Together
What Good Would The Moon Be?
When A Woman Has A Baby
Woman Who Lived Up There, The
Wouldn’t You Like To Be On Broadway?/Don’t Forget The Lilac Bush
Wrapped In A Ribbon And Tied In A Bow

Awards

Evening Standard Award 2008 for Best Musical

The Fantasticks

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The Fantasticks is the longest-running musical in the world. It is also the longest running show in the history of the American Theatre, starting life as a one act staging at Barnard College in the summer of 1959. When it opened in New York, the press was so tepid that producer Lore Noto almost closed it after a week. The Show is currently still running at the same theatre it opened in and continues to clock up numerous performances.

Music:

Harvey Schmidt

Lyrics:

Tom Jones

Book / libretto:

Tom Jones

Based on:

Les Romanesques by Edmond Rostand

Producer:

Lore Noto

Director:

Word Baker

Productions

Original Off Broadway Production: May 3 1960; Sullivan Street Playhouse, (17,162 performances)

Original 1960 cast included: Jerry Orbach, Rita Gardner, Kenneth Nelson, William Larson, Hugh Thomas, Tom Jones, George Curley & Richard Stauffer.

Original London Production: September 7, 1961; Apollo Theatre, (44 performances)

London Revival: July – September 1990; Regent’s Park Open Air Theatre

Broadway Revival: August 23 2003; Snapple Theatre (now Jerry Orbach Theatre), still running

London Revival: June 9, 2010 – June 26, 2010; The Duchess Theatre

What was your favourite production? Add your thoughts in the comments box

Synopsis

In a small town, two houses are separated by a wall (played by a mute actor). The mysterious narrator El Gallo explains that Matt and Luisa live next door to one another and have fallen in love, but their fathers are embattled in a family feud and have ordered them apart. He asks the audience to “Try to Remember” a simpler time in their life when they were first in love.

Luisa wants “Much More” in her life than the humdrum town can offer. Matt confesses his love for Luisa by singing over the wall (“Metaphor”). They both have active imaginations, and Luisa explains her fantasy that Matt will rescue her from abduction. The two fathers then send their respective children inside, and reveal that they have made up their feud to bring their children together, as telling a child “no” makes them want something even more (“Never Say No”). Eager to find a way to end the “feud,” Matt’s father, Mr. Hucklebee, tells Luisa’s father, Mr. Bellomy, that he has hired a professional to kidnap Luisa so that Matt can save her.

El Gallo arrives as the man hired to abduct Luisa. He explains he can enact a variety of different scenarios for them (“It Depends on What You Pay”). The fathers decide they want the best and most expensive option. Two travelling actors arrive and El Gallo enslists them to help him with the kidnapping.

That evening, Matt and Luisa sing of their love together (“Soon It’s Gonna Rain”). El Gallo and the actors put their plan into action and abduct Luisa (“Rape Ballet”). As planned, Matt manages to rescue her and the fathers can finally end their feud together, but El Gallo wonders how long this “Happy Ending” will last.

El Gallo explains that what seemed lovely by moonlight is not always the same in the glaring light of day. The fathers begin to squabble over their gardens (“This Plum is Too Ripe”), before Hucklebee reveals to the children that the entire abduction was staged. Matt and Luisa are upset and soon the situation evolves into a genuine feud between the fathers. Matt tries to win over Luisa with a real display of strength by challenging El Gallo to a duel. When he loses, Luisa is unimpressed by his boasting and they break up.

Matt decides to leave town in search of something more exciting (“I Can See It”). The fathers are both upset at the situation, and remark that gardening is easier than parenting (“Plant a Radish”). Luisa comes across El Gallo and asks him to take her on an adventure, but we soon see that both Luisa and Matt have realised that the outside world can be a harsh place (“Round and Round”).

El Gallo reveals that he had to hurt both Luisa and Matt so they could learn to value each other. Matt returns home and finds Luisa, and they both discover that the adventure they both wanted is really with each other (“They Were You”). At the sight of their children’s reunion, the fathers end their feud once more as Matt and Luisa embark on their new life together.

Songs

Act I

Overture
Try To Remember
Louisa’s Intro
Bird Magic
Much More
Matt’s Intro
This Girl
Metaphor
Celebration
Huck’s Intro
The Wall
I’ll Marry
Bell’s Intro
Ladder
Never Say No
It Depends On What You Pay
It Depends On What You Pay Reprise
Moonlight #1
Moonlight #2
In the Glen
Soon It’s Gonna Rain
Rape Ballet
After the Ballet
Happy Ending

Act II

Opening Act II (Part I)
Opening Act II (Part II)
Opening Act III (Part III)
This Plum Is Too Ripe
The Quarrel
I Can See It
An Episode
Rebuilding Wall #1
Rebuilding Wall #2
Plant A Radish
Much More Reprise
Round and Round
Distant Carousel
Beyond that road
Paradox
Finale: They Were You, Metaphor Reprise, Try To Remember Reprise
Bows & Exit Music

Licensing

UK: Josef Weinberger

USA: Musical Theatre International

She Loves Me

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She Loves Me is a musical based on the frequently adapted play ‘Parfumerie’ by Hungarian Miklos Laszlo, which was also the basis of the 1998 film ‘You’ve Got Mail’ starring Tom Hanks and Meg Ryan. The show features two shop workers in Budapest who are unknowingly each other’s secret pen pals, despite being constantly at odds with each other in real life. The musical features music by Jerry Bock and lyrics by Sheldon Harnick, the team behind ‘Fiddler on the Roof’. The book is adapted from the play by Joe Masteroff. Originating on Broadway in 1963, the show has had successful productions all around the world, with award winning revivals in the West End and Broadway throughout the 1990s.

Music:

Jerry Bock

Lyrics:

Sheldon Harnick

Book / libretto:

Joe Masteroff

Based on:

Parfumerie by Miklos Laszlo

Producer:

Lawrence Kasha

Director:

Harold Prince

Choreography:

Carol Haney

Productions

She Loves Me - Original Broadway

Eugene O'Neill Theatre - Opened 23 Apr 1963, closed 1 Jan 1970, 302 performances

Cast: Daniel Massey, Barbara Cook, Barbara Baxley, Jack Cassidy , Nathaniel Frey, Ralph Williams, and Ludwig Donath.

She Loves Me - Original London

Lyric Theatre - Opened 29 Apr 1964, closed 1 Jan 1970, 189 performances

She Loves Me - Broadway Revival

Brooks Atkinson Theatre - Opened 10 Jun 1993, closed 19 Jun 1994, 354 performances

Cast: Boyd Gaines, Judy Kuhn, Sally Mayes, Howard McGillin, Lee Wilkof, Brad Kane, and Louis Zorich

She Loves Me - London Revival

Savoy Theatre - Opened 12 Jul 1994, closed 1 Jan 1970

Cast: Ruthie Henshall

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Synopsis

The show begins on bright morning in Budapest in the late 1930s. The employees of Mr Maraczek’s Parfumerie arrive at work and gossip about the daily arrivals, (“Good Morning, Good Day”). Arpad Laszlo the delivery boy greets Ladisov Sipos, a middle aged Jewish salesman. They are joined by the sexy Ilona Ritter and her part-time boyfriend Steven Kodaly along with the manager Georg. The team go into full sales mode as Maraczek arrives. Georg is smitten with a pen pal he has made and shares his romantic letters with the team as Maraczek advises him to get married, (“Days Gone By”).

A new musical cigarette box arrives in the store that Maraczek believes will sell out. He sets them a challenge to sell one in the first hour. Amalia Balash, a shy young lade enters trying to get a job, but Georg tells her they are not hiring. She promises she has sales skills and convinces Maraczek to hire her after selling a music box to a customer, (“No More Candy”).
Georg and Amalia argue constantly at work, kept going by their mutual anonymous romantic pen pals, not realising that they are writing to each other, (“Three Letters”). Both of them have arranged to meet their pen pals and Sipos observes that they continue to bicker because they in fact like each other very much. Maraczek gets continually frustrated with Georg as he thinks it is he who is having an affair with his wife. On the night of his date Georg makes him stay late to hang Christmas decorations. Amalia says she cannot stay, and Georg is not excused and decides to quit. Amalia sets out to meet her date in a restaurant armed with a copy of ‘Anna Karenina’ with a flower in it. Kodaly starts to seduce “Ilona” and just as she falls for him he realises he can still go to another date that he has planned. Ilona is angry saying she will never fall for him again, (“I Resolve”).

Maraczek orders a private investigator to find out about his wife’s affair, and he reveals that it is Kodaly who is having an affair with his wife and not Georg. His wife calls and tells him she has to stay out late. Upset, he puts a gun to his head but Arpad enters just in time. Meanwhile Amalia is waiting patiently at the restaurant where the waiter is trying to maintain a “Romantic Atmosphere”. Georg arrives and realises his pen pall is Amalia, asking Sipos for help. He is forced in to see her, but doesn’t tell her that it is he she is waiting for. He tells her a “Tango Tragique” about a woman who was murdered on a blind date. As they argue, Amalia is left alone hoping her “Dear Friend” will rescue her.

The next day Maraczek wakes up after surviving his suicide attempt. He is impressed with Arpad’s work and promotes him to the position of a clerk, (“Try Me”). Georg also visits and Maraczek apologises for his anger and reinstates him as manager, telling him to fire Kodaly.

Georg goes to visit Amalia who has called in sick to work but pretends she is simply late, (“Where’s My Shoe?”). Georg takes her back to bed and leaves her Vanilla ice cream as a gift. He makes up a story to comfort her about her failed blind date. Amalia is taken with Gerog’s conversation and thinks about how kind he has been “Vanilla Ice Cream”. On the street Georg rejoices that “She Loves Me”.

Back in the store Ilona tells Sipos that she has been on a date with an optometrist who she met on “A Trip to the Library”. Kodaly is fired and bids everyone farewell, (“Grand Knowing You”). The busy Christmas shoppers keep the store alive and Maraczek returns in good health. As they all leave for a fun Christmas, Amalia arrives and discovers that Georg is her ‘dear friend’. They kiss as the curtain falls.

Songs

Opening
Good Morning, Good Day
Sounds While Selling
Days Gone By
No More Candy
Thank You, Madam
Three Letters
Tonight at Eight
I Don’t Know His Name
Perspective
Goodbye, Georg
Will He Like Me?
Ilona
I Resolve
A Romantic Atmosphere
Tango Tragique
Mr Nowack Will You Please?
Dear Friend
Entr’acte
Try Me
Where’s My Shoe?
Vanilla Ice Cream
She Loves Me
A Trip To the Library
Grand Knowing You
Twelve Days To Christmas
Finale
Bows
Thank You
Exit

Awards

Nominated for 7 Tony Awards in 1964 – Jack Cassidy won for SUPPORTING OR FEATURED ACTOR (MUSICAL).

The Revival in 1994 was nominated for 16 Tony Awards – Boyd Gaines won for ACTOR (MUSICAL).

Licensing

UK: Josef Weinberger

USA: Musical Theatre International

Fiorello!

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Fiorello! is one of only 8 musicals to win the Pulitzer Prize for Drama due to its significant historical content. The show concerns New York City mayor Fiorello LaGuardia, a Republican who governed around the time of the Great Depression. The book by Jerome Weidman was based on the 1955 work ‘Life With Fiorello’ by Ernest Cuneo. The show features music by the creative team of ‘Fiddler on the Roof’, Sheldon Harnick and Jerry Bock. The original Broadway production was directed by George Abbott and premièred in 1959. The musical is yet to play in London’s West End.

Music:

Jerry Bock

Lyrics:

Sheldon Harnick

Book / libretto:

Jerome Weidman and George Abbott

Producer:

Robert Griffith & Harold Prince

Director:

George Abbott

Choreography:

Peter Gennaro

Productions

Original Broadway Production

Broadhurst Theatre, Broadway Theatre - Opened 23 Nov 1959, closed 18 Oct 1961

Cast: Tom Bosley (Fiorello), Bob Holiday (Neil), Nathaniel Frey (Morris), Patricia Wilson (Marie), Pat Stanley (Dora), Howard Da Silva (Ben Marino), Mark Dawson (Floyd), Ellen Hanley (Thea), Eileen Rodgers (Miss Mitzi Travers)

Broadway Revival

City Centres Theatre - Opened 13 Jun 1962, closed 1 Jan 1970

Encores! Revival

Encores! New York City Centres - Opened 1 Feb 1994, closed 1 Jan 1970

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Synopsis

The Mayor of New York City Fiorello LaGuardia opens the show reading comic books over the radio as a newspaper strike takes over the city. The clock turns back to 1915, one year into the First World War. We see LaGuardia in his law office where clients are awaiting the chance to speak with him face to face. His clerks tell the crowd that they will all have chance to speak with him, regardless of whether or not they can afford to pay for his services, (“On The Side of The Angels”). Meanwhile his secretary Marie and her best friend Dora are hearing about drama that has unfolded due to the strikes, as Thea Almerigatti, the head of the women shirtwaist strikers has been arrested. Fiorello calms down the situation and promises to help. One of the district leaders Ben plays a game of poker with his politically minded friends (“Politics and Poker”) as Marie announces that LaGuardia is a potential Congressional candidate and is standing up to the corrupt politics of Tammany Hall. Fiorello invites Marie to dinner after the pair spend time together, but as Thea arrives having being released from prison he breaks off the plan to help her with her strategy. Marie feels rejected and asks herself why she cares so much for a man who does not care for her, (“Marie’s Law”).

The next year we see Fiorello in his campaign to reach Congress as he promises to break the politically tyranny of Tammany Hall (“The Name’s LaGuardia!”). He wins the election (“The Bum Won”) and grows closer to Thea. A Year later he proposes to Thea before enlisting in the Air Force as America joins the War in Europe. He bids an emotional farewell to Marie, (“Till Tomorrow”). We see his involvement in the war through a series of projections, and as the war ends he returns “Home Again” where Marie and Thea are both glad to see him. Thea has agreed to marry him and Marie is left alone, comforted only by Morris, the office manager.

Act Two opens in 1929 as LaGuardia runs for Mayor of New York. Thea is now happily married and asks “When Did I Fall in Love?” In Dora’s home a group of competitors meet and plan to overthrow Fiorello, killing him at one of his public appearances. Dora overhears and rushes to tell Marie. Fiorello’s campaign for Mayor is going badly, as Ben is fired and Thea’s health begins to deteriorate. She dies and Marie has to tell Fiorello the news. The race for Mayor is won by rival Jimmy Walker, but Fiorello is inspired by the death of Thea and continues his campaign.

In 1933 Ben is once again playing poker with his friends (“Little Tin Box”). Marie is desperate to get married, and quits her job saying she will marry “The Very Next Man” who asks. She begs Ben to help Fiorello with his upcoming election, and with his help Fiorello manages to win the Mayoral race.

Songs

Overture
On The Side Of The Angels
Politics And Poker
Unfair
Marie’s Law
The Name’s La Guardia
The Bum Won
I Love A Cop
Til Tomorrow
Home Again
When Did I Fall In Love?
Gentleman Jimmy
Little Tin Box
The Very Next Man
Finale

Awards

1960 Tony Awards: Best Musical, Best Performance by a Featured Actor, Best Director

Pulitzer Prize for Drama

Licensing

UK: Josef Weinberger

USA: Musical Theatre International

Pal Joey

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Pal Joey features music and lyrics by Richard Rodgers and Lorenz Hart, along with a book by John O’Hara. The plot is based on a number of short stories that were initially published in The New Yorker magazine. The show features a number of show standards such as ‘I Could Write a Book’ and ‘Bewitched, Bothered and Bewildered’ which has been covered by a number of artists around the world. Frank Sinatra starred in the film version and covered a number of the songs on his albums. Gene Kelly starred in the original production which ran for almost a year in 1940. Recent revivals have included the Studio 54 production which starred Stockard Channing.

Music:

Richard Rodgers

Lyrics:

Lorenz Hart

Book / libretto:

John O’Hara

Based on:

short stories by John O'Hara

Producer:

George Abbott

Director:

George Abbott

Choreography:

Robert Alton

Productions

Pal Joey Original Broadway

Ethel Barymore, Schubert Theatre, St James Theatre - Opened 25 Dec 1940, closed 18 Feb 2013, 374 performances

Cast: Vivienne Segal, Gene Kelly, June Havoc, Jack Durant, Leila Ernst, Jean Casto, Van Johnson, Stanley Donen, Tilda Getze

Pal Joey First Broadway Revival

Broadhurst Theatre - Opened 3 Jan 1952, closed 1 Jan 1970, 540 performances

Cast: Vivienne Segal, Harold Lang, Helen Gallagher, Lionel Stander, Patricia Northrop, Elaine Stritch, Helen Wood, Barbara Nichols, Jack Waldron & Robert Fortier

Pal Joey Original London

Princes Theatre - Opened 1 Mar 1954, closed 1 Jan 1970

Pal Joey 2nd Broadway Revival

City Centres Theatre - Opened 23 May 1963, closed 1 Jan 1970, 15 performances

Pal Joey 3rd Broadway Revival

Circle in the Square Theatre - Opened 27 Jun 1976, closed 1 Jan 1970, 73 performances

Cast: Joan Copeland, Christopher Chadman

Pal Joey London Revival

Albery Theatre (Noel Coward) - Opened 1 Sep 1980, closed 12 Sep 1981

Pal Joey 4th Broadway Revival

Studio 54 - Opened 18 Dec 2008, closed 1 Jan 1970, 85 performances

Cast: Stockard Channing, Martha Plimpton, Robert Clohessy, Jenny Fellner, Daniel Marcus, Matthew Risch, Steven Skybell

What was your favourite production? Add your thoughts in the comments box

Synopsis

Joey Evans is a playboy in 1930’s Chicago who hopes to one day run his own nightclub. He gets a job as an emcee at a low-class dive (“You Musn’t Kick It Around”). Rehearsals begin and the club’s lead singer Gladys dislikes Joey from the start.

Joey meets pretty young stenographer Linda English who falls for his cheesy pick-up lines (“I Could Write a Book”). She comes to meet Joey at the club that evening. That same night, a wealthy married woman named Vera Simpson flirts with Joey, who rebuffs her advances. Furious, she leaves the club, as does Linda who is putt off by Joey’s rude behaviour. Joey is fired for treating a rich customer so poorly.

Linda refuses to take Joey’s calls, so he moves on to Vera (“What a Man”). They begin a torrid affair (“Happy Hunting Horn”), and as Vera is now “Bewitched, Bothered, and Bewildered,” she sets him up in a new apartment and even buys him his own nightclub, which he names “Chez Joey.” Joey is thrilled by his luck and plans to become even an even bigger name in Chicago (“Pal Joey”).

Joey has installed all of the dancers from his old club at Chez Joey (“The Flower Garden of My Heart”). Gladys and her ex, Ludlow Lowell, plot to blackmail Vera and get Joey to absentmindedly sign papers they will ultimately use against him. Joey and Vera are still enjoying their affair (“In Our Little Den”), but when Linda overhears what Gladys and Ludlow plan to do, she calls Vera to warn her. Vera does not trust Linda and confronts Joey, believing they are having an affair of their own (“Do It the Hard Way”). Linda arrives to convince Vera that nothing is going on, a fact Vera soon realises. Both women agree that Joey is more trouble than he is worth (“Take Him”). Vera has Gladys and Ludlow arrested for blackmail, and she then breaks up with Joey and closes the club.

Joey runs into Linda in front of the shop where they first met. She invites him to dinner, but he refuses, and she says she hopes they’ll meet one day again. In the end, Joey is left all alone.

Songs

Overture
You Musn’t Kick It Around
I Could Write a Book
Chicago – A Great Big Town
That Terrific Rainbow
What is a Man
Happy Hunting Horn
Bewitched, Bothered, and Bewildered
Pal Joey
Flower Garden in My Heart
Zip
Plant You Now, Dig you Later
In Our Little Den of Iniquity
Do it the Hard ay
Take Him
Reprise: Bewitched
Finale: I Could Write a Book

Awards

1952 Tony Award: Best Performance by a Featured Actress (Helen Gallagher), Best Choreography (Robert Alton), Best Musical Director.

Licensing

UK: Josef Weinberger

USA: R & H Theatricals

Man of La Mancha

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Man of La Mancha was one of the most popular stage musicals of its day, clocking up an impressive 2,328 performances for its original production. Countless Broadway revivals have each achieved varying levels of success, and the 2002 production was particularly popular. The show features music by Mitch Leigh and lyrics by Joe Darion, and some of its songs have become Broadway standards such as ‘The Impossible Dream’ that has been recorded by artists all over the world and translated into languages ranging from Hebrew to Japanese. The book is inspired by Cervante’s novel ‘Don Quixote’ and tells the story of a mad knight during the Spanish Inquisition.

Music:

Mitch Leigh

Lyrics:

Joe Darion

Book / libretto:

Dale Wasserman

Based on:

the novel Don Quixote by Miguel De Cervantes

Director:

Albert Marre

Choreography:

Jack Cole

Productions

Original Broadway Production

Anta Washington Square Theatre and Martin Beck Theatre - Opened 22 Nov 1965, closed 1 Jun 1971, 2329 performances

Cast: Joan Diener, Irving Jacobson, Richard Kiley, Ray Middleton, Robert Rounseville

Original London Production

Piccadilly Theatre - Opened 24 Apr 1968, closed 1 Jan 1970, 253 performances

First Broadway Revival

Vivian Beaumont Theatre - Opened 22 Jun 1972, closed 1 Jan 1970, 140 performances

Second Broadway Revival

Palace Theatre - Opened 15 Sep 1977, closed 1 Jan 1970, 124 performances

Third Broadway Revival

Marquis Theatre - Opened 24 Apr 1992, closed 1 Jan 1970, 108 performances

Fourth Broadway Revival

Martin Beck Theatre - Opened 5 Dec 2002, closed 1 Jan 1970, 304 performances

Cast: Mary Elizabeth Mastrantonio, Brian Stokes Mitchell, Ernie Sabella, Mark Jacoby, Don Mayo

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Synopsis

The show opens in Spain in the late 16th Century. Miguel de Cervantes has been thrown into prison after the Spanish Inquisition with his manservant. The other inmates threaten them and take their possessions, but they decide to set up a mock trial. If found guilty they will have to give over all of their possessions. Cervantes agrees to this except for a manuscript that he wants to preserve. He decides to deliver his defence in the form of a play, and pulls out a make up trunk to transform himself into Alonso Quijana, a Knight. He renames himself Don Quixote and sets out to find adventure with his trusty squire Sancho Panza. The pair are always in danger and under attack from Quixote’s enemy the evil Enchanter. This puts them on edge and they mistakenly attack a windmill and are defeated by it. Quixote thinks it is because he hasn’t properly been made a knight, so as he spots a castle he tells Panza to announce their arrival. The castle is really an inn, and Cervantes makes the other prisoners play the parts of serving wenchs, as well as part time prostitute Aldonza. As Quixote enters the inn, he mistakes Aldonza as the lady Dulcinea whom he swore everlasting loyalty to and serenades her.

Antonia, Quixote’s niece seeks advice from a local priest who realises that the girls are concerned with the knight’s madness and the shame it will bring the family. Antonio’s fiance is a bitter and cynical man who is upset at the prospect of having a madman in his extended family. Antonia convinces him that it would be a welcome challenge to cure him, so they decide to look after Quixote and bring him home.

Aldonza continues to be taunted by the male shepherds and is upset at her position. She questions why Sancho follows his master, and he admits to really liking him. Quixote is determined to be made a knight and asks the innkeeper to knight him. He agrees to do so if Quixote stands guard all night. That night he explains to Aldonza why he behaves the way he does, with the main song from the show, ‘The Impossible Dream’. Aldonza’s customer Pedro is furious she is late for their meeting and hits her, prompting a fight between the shepherds and Quixote who is later asked to leave the inn, but not before he is knighted by the Innkeeper. With his new title, he is determined to help the shepherds, who capture and rape Aldonza whilst Quixote remains unaware.

Don Quixote and Sancho leave the inn to join a troupe of Gypsies who steal everything from them, including their horse and donkey. They return to the inn and Quixote swears to avenge Aldonza, but she begs him to leave her alone. His mortal enemy the Enchanter arrives prompting combat. He forces him to see himself how everyone else sees him – as a fool and a madman. Cervantes tells the prisoners that his story has come to an end, but everyone is dissatisfied with the ending and force him to tell a final scene.

Quixote is lying in a coma surrounded by his friends and a priest is called as he believes himself to be dying. Aldonza rushes in to see him, but he fails to recognise her. She sings Dulcinea to him to jog his memory and he rises, asking once again to be the Man of La Mancha. Mid song, he breaks down and dies.

Cervantes is brought from the prison to face trial as the prisoners sing a reprise of ‘The Impossible Dream’ to wave him off.

Songs

Act I

Overture
Man Of La Mancha (I, Don Quixote)
The Windmill
It’s All The Same
Dulcinea
I’m Only Thinking Of Him
I’m Only Thinking Of Him (Reprise)
I Really Like Him
What Does He Want
The Barber’s Song
Golden Helmet Of Mambrino
To Each His Dulcinea (To Every Man His Dream)
The Impossible Dream (The Quest)

Act II

The Combat
Little Bird, Little Bird
The Dubbing
Knight Of The Woeful Countenanc
The Abduction
Moorish Dance
Aldonza
The Knight Of The Mirrors
A Little Gossip
Dulcinea Reprise
Impossible Dream (Reprise)/Man Of La Mancha (Reprise)
The Psalm
Finale (The Impossible Dream)
Bows
Exit Music

Awards

1966 Tony Awards: Best Musical, Best Performance by a Leading Actor, Best Direction, Best Original Score, Best Scenic Design.

Once Upon a Mattress

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Once Upon a Mattress features music by Mary Rodgers along with lyrics by Marshall Barer and book by Jay Thompson and Dean Fuller. The musical original started life off-Broadway, before coming to the mainstream theatre in 1959. The script is based on the classic fairy tale ‘The Princess and the Pea’ and features a number of catchy songs in an otherwise overlooked show. The musical has never been particularly popular in Britain, although it remains popular with American high schools and summer camps. The show had a revival in 1998 starring Sarah Jessica Parker in her first musical theatre role.

Music:

Mary Rodgers

Lyrics:

Marshall Barer

Book / libretto:

Jay Thompson, Marshall Barer and Dean Fuller

Based on:

The Princess and the Pea, a popular children’s fairytale by Hans Christian Anderson

Producer:

T. Edward Hambleton, Norris Houghton, William Eckart & Jean Eckart

Director:

George Abbott

Choreography:

Joe Layton

Productions

Original Broadway Production

Alvin Theatre, Neil Simon Theatre - Opened 11 May 1959, closed 1 Jan 1970, 244 performances

Cast: Joseph Bova, Carol Burnett, Allen Case, Jack Gilford, Anne Jones, Matt Mattox, Harry Snow, Jane White.

Original London Production

Adelphi Theatre - Opened 1 Sep 1960, closed 1 Oct 1960

Broadway Revival

Broadhurst Theatre - Opened 19 Dec 1996, closed 1 Jan 1970, 188 performances

Cast: David Hibbard, Sarah Jessica Parker, Daivd Aaron Baker, Mary Lou Rosato, Heath Lamberts, Jane Krakowski, Lewis Cleale, Lawrence Clayton, Tom Alan Robbins, Ann Brown.

What was your favourite production? Add your thoughts in the comments box

Synopsis

The musical is set in a medieval kingdom ruled by Queen Aggravain and the mute King Sextimus. The Minstrel acts as the narrator and begins to tell the tale of the Princess and the Pea which differs somewhat from the tale we all know and love. The Princess was actually one of 13 tested by the Evil Queen. We see the 12th Princess being tested with an impossible quiz and she fails the final question that would be impossible for her to answer. The Queen has created a law in the town that says no one can wed until Prince Dauntless shares his wedding bed, but she is unwilling to let any girl be good enough for him.

One of the Knights Sir Harry realises that his girlfriend Lady Larken is pregnant and they are worried about the consequences. Larken says she will run away to hide her pregnancy but Sir Harry says he would rather try and find a suitable Princess himself to lift the town from the law. He tries to convince the Queen who is persuaded by the Prince to let him help. Princess Winnifred the Woebegone, an unrefined Princess travels to the castle and charms the court, but is instantly disliked by the Queen. The mute King finds out about the pregnancy and mimes it to his Jester and Minstrel, telling them to to say a word.

The Queen devises another impossible task helped by her Wizard companion. They plan to put a tiny pea underneath the 20 thick mattress to see if the Princess is sensitive enough to marry her son. Winnifred tells the Prince and court about her home in the marshlands and everyone instantly likes her. Lady Larken fights with Harry and promises she will run away. The King attempts to stop her running away but then lets her escape to Normandy. That night the Queen hosts a ball making Winnifred dance the hardest dance possible, ‘The Spanish Panic’, but instead of collapsing herself, everyone else becomes a victim. Dauntless tells her that he loves her.

During the night the Queen sets up the 20 mattresses for her challenge. She spots Larken running away as the Minstrel tries to protect her. Winnifred and Dauntless study for the test and she complains about wanting a ‘happily ever after’. Meanwhile the King has a man to man talk with Dauntless about the birds and the bees through mime.

Lady Larken and Sir Harry confess that their love is as strong as ever as Winnifred passes the test and has a restless night on the bed. The Queen desperately tries to find a way to make the test invalid, but Dauntless yells at her telling her to ‘shut up’. This act of anger breaks the curse on the King and makes the Queen become mute, as the King lets Dauntless marry Winnifred. They force the Queen to hop around the room as punishment.

It is revealed that the only reason Winnifred passed the test is because the Jester heard of the plan and planted metal weapons on each layer to give her trouble sleeping. He then removes them but Winnifred still struggles to fall asleep, even with just the pea disturbing her. As she falls asleep everyone lives happily ever after.

Songs

ACT ONE

Overture
Many moons ago
An Opening For A Princess
In A Little While
In A Little While Reprise
Shy
Fanfare
The Ministrel, The Jester and I
Sensitivity
The Swamps of Home
Fight-Fight
Spanish panic
Tents
Normandy
Spanish PL NO. 2
Song of love

ACT TWO

Entr’acte
Opening – Act II
Happily ever after
Man to man talk
Very soft shoes
Three O’clock In The Morning
Yesterday I loved you
Nightingale Lullaby
Wizard
Finale
Bows And Exit Music

Awards

Tony Award Nominations: Best Musical, Best Leading Actress, Best Musical Revival.

Licensing

UK: Josef Weinberger

USA: Musical Theatre International

Gigi

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Gigi tells the story of a young French girl raised to be a courtesan who instead opts to get married. This musical hit started out as a novel by the famous French author Colette and was made by Anita Loos into a non-musical stage production in 1951 before becoming an Oscar-winning musical film in 1958. It was adapted into a Broadway Musical in 1973 after the Film version won 9 Academy Awards by Lerner and Loewe, although its Broadway début failed to live up to the success of the film. After short runs in both London and New York, the stage show was surpassed by the screen version, until a new production was mounted at the Regent’s Park Open Air Theatre and quickly became one of the biggest shows of the season.

Music:

Frederick Loewe

Lyrics:

Alan Jay Lerner

Book / libretto:

Alan Jay Lerner

Based on:

the novel by Colette and the MGM film

Producer:

Saint Subber and Edwin Lester

Director:

Joseph Hardy

Choreography:

Onna White

Productions

Original Broadway Production

Uris Theatre - Opened 13 Nov 1973, closed 1 Jan 1970, 103 performances

Cast: Alfred Drake, Maria Karnilova, Daniel Massey, Agnes Moorehead, Karin Wolfe, Sandahl Berman, John Dorrin, Truman Gaige, Joe Ross, Richard Woods, Thomas Anthony, Alvin Beam, Russ Beasley, Andy Bew, Robyn Blair, Leonard John Crofoot, Judy Cummings, Gordon De Vol, Randy Di Grazio, Gregory B. Drotar, Margit Haut, Andy Keyser, Clyde Laurents, Diane Lauridsen, Merilee Magnuson, Kelley Maxwell, Jean McLaughlin, Vickie Patik, Susan Plantt, Joel Pressman, Thomas Stanton, Marie Tillmans, Sallie True

Original London Production

Lyric Theatre - Opened 17 Sep 1985, closed 1 Apr 1986

London Revival

Open Air Theatre, Regent's Park - Opened 6 Aug 2008, closed 13 Sep 2008

What was your favourite production? Add your thoughts in the comments box

Synopsis

In Belle-Epoque Paris, Honoré Lachaille is a elderly gentlemen with very few cares in the world and plenty of money to spend. He reflects on his womanizing past and pauses to “Thank Heaven for Little Girls.” His nephew, Gaston, is just as wealthy and also has an eye for the ladies, but he is growing tired of his charmed life as “It’s a Bore.” He begins spending time with Honoré’s former lover, the eccentric Madame Alvarez, who he calls Mamita, in an effort to get closer to her beautiful granddaughter Gigi.

Mamita sends Gigi to her Aunt Alicia’s finishing school to become a high-class courtesan, just as the women in their family have always done. Gigi finds her lessons difficult and does not understand the meaning of love or why Paris seems obsessed with it. She enjoys spending time with Gaston, but views their relationship as platonic. Alicia and Mamita concoct a plan to set Gigi up as Gaston’s mistress, an arrangement Gigi remains blissfully unaware of. She continues her lessons, but is clearly still an awkward young girl.

Gaston soon falls in love with Gigi, but she says she does not want to become anyone’s mistress only to be tossed aside when a prettier girl comes along. Gaston is shocked that she thinks of him this way, but is unable to convince her that he will change his ways. Gigi, though, has a change of heart and realises she wants to be with Gaston, even if only as his mistress.

Gaston takes Gigi out to dinner for the first time in one of Paris’ most exclusive restaurants. For the first time, he notices that Gigi is no longer the awkward teenager and has evolved into a beautiful and elegant woman. He decides that he does not want her to be only his mistress, and proposes marriage, which she excitedly accepts.

Songs

Act I

Thank Heaven for Little Girls – Honore Lachailles
It’s a Bore – Honore Lachailles and Gaston Lachailles
The Earth and Other Minor Things – Gigi
Paris Is Paris Again – Honore Lachailles and Ensemble
She’s Not Thinking of Me – Gaston Lachailles
It’s a Bore (Reprise) – Honore Lachailles, Gaston Lachailles, Manuel and Aunt Alicia
The Night They Invented Champagne – Gigi, Gaston Lachailles and Mamita
I Remember It Well – Honore Lachailles and Mamita
I Never Want to Go Home Again – Gigi and Ensemble

Act II

Gigi – Gaston Lachailles
The Contract – Aunt Alicia, Mamita, Maitre Duclos and Maitre Du Fresne
I’m Glad I’m Not Young Anymore – Honore Lachailles
In This Wide,Wide World – Gigi
Thank Heaven for Little Girls (Reprise) – Honore Lachailles

Awards

1974 Tony Awards: Best Original Score. Nominated for: Best Actor in a Musical Alfred Drake, Best Scenic Design Scenic Design by Oliver Smith, Best Costume Design Costume Design by Oliver Messel.

Licensing

UK: Music Scope UK

USA: Tams-Witmark

Camelot

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Camelot was a favourite musical of the Kennedy Administration, and one of the most popular Broadway shows of the 1960s. Not only did the show run for over a year, but its original cast album was one of the top selling albums of the year. The show features Music, Book and Lyrics by creative duo Alan Jay Lerner and Frederick Loewe (My Fair Lady, Brigadoon) and is based on the King Arthur legends found in T.H White’s novel The Once and Future King. The show has had more success on Broadway than in London, despite the obvious British interest in the show and legends overall. Julie Andrews and Richard Burton are famous names that have been attached to the show, providing a memorable soundtrack which included songs such as ‘The Simple Joys of Maidenhood’ and ‘If Every I Would Leave You’.

Music:

Frederick Loewe

Lyrics:

Alan Jay Lerner

Book / libretto:

Alan Jay Lerner

Based on:

The Once And Future King by T.H. White

Producer:

Alan Jay Lerner, Frederick Loewe & Moss Hart

Director:

Moss Hart

Choreography:

Hanya Holm

Productions

Original Broadway Production

Majestic Theatre - Opened 3 Dec 1960, closed 5 Jan 1963, 873 performances

Cast: Richard Burton, Julie Andrews, Roddy McDowall, Robert Coote, Robert Goulet, Mel Dowd, John Cullum, Bruce Yarnell, David Hurst & Michael Kermoyan

Original London Production

Theatre Royal Drury Lane - Opened 1 Aug 1964, closed 1 Jan 1970, 518 performances

First Broadway Revival

Lincoln Center Theatre - Opened 8 Jul 1980, closed 23 Aug 1980

Second Broadway Revival

Winter Garden Theatre - Opened 15 Nov 1981, closed 2 Jan 1982

Third Broadway Revival

George Gershwin Theatre - Opened 21 Jun 1993, closed 7 Aug 1993

What was your favourite production? Add your thoughts in the comments box

Synopsis

Young King Arthur is worried about his upcoming arranged marriage to Guenevere, whom he has never met. Merlyn the Magician persuades him to accept his new bride, but Arthur still reluctantly hides in the woods, pondering what his subjects think of him (“I Wonder What the King Is Doing Tonight”). Guenevere arrives in the woods and Arthur overhears her also doubting her wedding, preferring instead to maintain the “Simple Joys of Maidenhood.”

Arthur introduces himself as “Wart” (his childhood nickname), and extols the virtues of “Camelot” to Guenevere. She is charmed by his appearance and demeanour, and they nearly share a kiss, before his servants arrive and reveal him as King Arthur. She agrees to marry him without reservations. Meanwhile, Merlyn is beginning to die and worries that he has forgotten to warn Arthur about Mordred and Lancelot, who will prove to be his undoing.

Arthur alongside Guenevere decides to create a new order of knights who will be dedicated to virtue rather than looting. They will be called the Knights of the Round Table and they soon become legendary throughout the lands. A young, arrogant Frenchman named Lancelot arrives seeking to join the order, as he believes himself to be the bravest knight in the world (“C’est Moi”). The Queen has organized a May Day celebration (“The Lusty Month of May”), where she meets Lancelot and instantly dislikes him.

Lancelot soon makes enemies of most of the knights, and three challenge him to a duel. He manages to defeat them all and wins over the favour of the crowd. Guinevere too finds herself attracted to him despite her love for Arthur. Lancelot too is torn between the beautiful Queen and his duty to the King. Unbeknownst to them, Arthur has picked up on their mutual attraction but decides not to do anything to upset the order of the Round Table.

Years pass, and Guenevere and Lancelot still struggle with their unrequited love (“If Ever I Would Leave You”). Arthur’s illegitimate son, Mordred, arrives in Camelot, determined to take over the kingdom and destroy the Round Table. Arthur and Guenevere begin to tire of the difficulty running a kingdom (“What Do the Simple Folk Do?”), whilst the knights are growing sick of their virtuous lives (“Fie on Goodness!”). Mordred uses their malaise to turn them against Arthur.

Lancelot is unable to resist the Queen any longer and visits her bedchamber at night (“I Loved You Once in Silence”). They kiss passionately before being interrupted by Mordred and some of the knights who arrest them both for treason. Lancelot manages to escape, but Guenevere is tried and sentenced to be burned at the stake. Arthur is torn between saving his kingdom and saving the love of his life. He watches as Lancelot manages to rescue his queen just before she is burned to death.

Arthur reluctantly realises he must fight Lancelot for the sake of his kingdom, and Camelot is torn apart by the resulting civil war. Before the final battle, he meets Guenevere and Lancelot alone. Their relationship has fallen apart, and they both agree to face justice in England. Arthur refuses and forgives them. Guenevere departs for a convent, while Lancelot returns to his troops. Heartbroken, Arthur comes across a young boy who has travelled to Camelot to become a knight of the Round Table. Moved by the boy’s idealism, Arthur knights him and sends him back to England, urging him to tell the tale of the perfect kingdom that once existed named “Camelot.”

Songs

Act I

Overture
March (Parade)
I Wonder What the King Is Doing Tonight
The Simple Joys of Maidenhood
Camelot
Guenevere’s Welcome
Camelot (Tag)
Follow Me
End of Study Scene: Camelot (Reprise)
C’est Moi
The Lusty Month of May
Pellinor’s Entrance
Take Me to the Fair
The Lusty Month of May (Reprise)
Change of Scene (from Act I Scene 5 to 6)
How to Handle a Women
Tent Scene
The Tumblers
The Jousts
Change of Scene (from Act I Scene 8 to 9)
Before I Gaze at You Again
Finale Act I (Proposition / Resolution)

Act II

Entra’cte
Madrigal
If Ever I Would Leave You
The Seven Deadly Virtues
Change of Scene (from Act II Scene 1 to 2)
What Do the Simple Folk Do
Enchanted Forest
The Persuasion
The Invisible Wall
Change of Scene (from Act II Scene 4 to 5)
Fie On Goodness
Fie On Goodness (Tag)
Change of Scene and Incidental Music
I Loved You Once in Silence
I Loved You Once In Silence (Tag)
Guenevere
Battle Call
Farewell
Finale Ultimo
Curtain Call

Awards

1961 Tony Awards: Best Actor in a Musical – Richard Burton, Best Scenic Design – Oliver Smith, Best Costume Design, Best Conductor and Musical Director.

Licensing

UK: Music Scope UK

USA: Tams-Witmark